A Novel Design of Musculoskeletal Bipedal Robot Applied with Bio-Inspired Elastic Actuation

Abstract:

A rigid actuation method does not allow a humanoid to flexibly compliant with the efforts needed to be exerted in a changing environment. Thus, starting from the studies developed in the biomechanical and biomimetic fields, this paper introduces a novel bipedal robot equipped with a musculoskeletal-like mechanism, in order to obtain the expected compliant locomotion. The robot’s structure consists of extended elastic actuators built from SEAs (Series Elastic Actuators), in order to realize the muscle-tendons like artifact. A novel design of bipedal robot has been built scaling it to a kid-size dimension. An efficient simulation of the robot has also been implemented using the OpenSim Simulator. The kinematics and dynamics of our bipedal model are described in equations. Furthermore, the control architecture has been designed based on a Fuzzy Control and a PID Control approach. Some experiments both on the real and the simulated robot are presented to evaluate the robot’s design and its performances.

• Periodical: Applied Mechanics and Materials (Volume 868)
• Pages: 81-92
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.868.81
• Online since: July 2017
• Authors: Fu Ben He, Roberto Bortoletto, Yan De Liang*, Enrico Pagello
• Keywords: Elastic Actuation, Humanoid, Musculoskeletal System, OpenSim

References

[1] I. Kato and H. Tsuiki, The Hydraulically Powered Biped Walking Machine with A High Carrying Capacity, IV Symp. on External Control of Human Extremities, (1972) 410-421.

[2] D. Förg, H. Ulbirch and A. Seyfarth, Study of a Bipedal Robot with Elastic Elements, 41st Int. Symp. on Robotics/6th German Conf. on Robotics, (2010) 689-695.

[3] K. Radkhah, T. Lens, A. Seyfarth and O. von Stryk, On the Influence of Elastic Actuation and Monoarticular Structures in Biologically Inspired Bipedal Robots, Proc. 2010 IEEE Int. Conf. on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics, (2010) 389-394.

DOI: 10.1109/biorob.2010.5627797

[4] K. Radkhah, M. Maus, D. Scholz, A. Seyfarth and O. von Stryk, Towards Human-Like Bipedal Locomotion with Three-Segmented Elastic Legs, 41st Int. Symp. on Robotics / 6th German Conf. on Robotics, (2010) 696-703.

DOI: 10.1142/s0219843611002587

[5] G. Pratt and M. Williamson, Series Elastic Actuators, IEEE/RSJ Int. Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 1 (1995) 399-406.

DOI: 10.1109/iros.1995.525827

[6] F. Zajac, Muscle and Tendon Properties Models Scaling and Application to Biomechanics and Motor Control, Critical Reviews in Biomedical Engineering, 17 (1989) 359-410.

[7] S.L. Delp, J.P. Loan, M.G. Hoy, F.E. Zajac, E.L. Topp and J.M. Rosen, An Interactive Graphics-Based Model of the Lower Extremity to Study Orthopaedic Surgical Procedures, IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Engineering, 37 (1990) 757-767.

DOI: 10.1109/10.102791

[8] F.C. Anderson and M.G. Pandy, Dynamic Optimization of Human Walking, J. of Biomechanical Engineering, 123 (2001) 381-390.

DOI: 10.1115/1.1392310

[9] G.T. Yamaguchi and F.E. Zajac, A Planar Model of the Knee Joint to Characterize the Knee Extensor Mechanism, J. of Biomechanics, 22 (1989) 1-10.

DOI: 10.1016/0021-9290(89)90179-6

[10] H. A. Malki, D. Misir, D. Feigenspan and G. Chen, Fuzzy PID Control of a Flexible-Joint Robot Arm with Uncertainties from Time-Varying Loads, IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology, 5 (1997) 371-378.

DOI: 10.1109/87.572133

[11] S. Delp, F. Anderson, A. Arnold, P. Loan, A. Habib, C. John, E. Guendelman and D. Thelen, OpenSim: Open-source Software to Create and Analyze Dynamic Simulations of Movement. IEEE Trans. on Biomedical Engineering, 54 (2007) 1940–(1950).

DOI: 10.1109/tbme.2007.901024

[12] C.T. John, Complete Description of the Thelen 2003 Muscle Model, on http: /simtk-conuence. stanford. edu.

[13] R. Bortoletto, M. Sartori, F. He and E. Pagello, Simulating an Elastic Bipedal Robot Based on Musculoskeletal Modeling, Living Machines Conf. 2012, (2012) 26-37.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-31525-1_3

[14] M. Sartori, D.G. Lloyd, M. Reggiani and E. Pagello, Fast Operation of Anatomical and Stiff Tendon Neuromuscular Models in EMG-Driven Modeling, 2010 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), (2010) 2228-2234.

DOI: 10.1109/robot.2010.5509932

[15] J.W. Sensinger and R.F. Weir, Improvements to Series Elastic Actuators, The 2nd IEEE/ASME Int. Conf. on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications, (2006) 1-7.

DOI: 10.1109/mesa.2006.296927

[16] D. Robinson, J. Pratt, D. Paluska and G. Pratt, Series Elastic Actuator Development for a Biomimetic Walking Robot, IEEE/ASME Int. Conf. on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics, (1999) 561-568.

DOI: 10.1109/aim.1999.803231

[17] R. Van Ham, B. Vanderborght, M. Van Damme, B. Verrelst and D. Lefeber, MACCEPA, The Mechanically Adjustable Compliance and Controllable Equilibrium Position Actuator Design and Implementation in a Biped Robot, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 55 (2007).

DOI: 10.1016/j.robot.2007.03.001

[18] M. Spong, Modeling and Control of Elastic Joint Robots, ASME J. of Dynamic Systems, Measurement and Control, 109 (1987) 310-319.

DOI: 10.1115/1.3143860

[19] B. Vanderborght, R. Van Ham, D. Lefeber, T. Sugar and K. Hollander Comparison of Mechanical Design and Energy Consumption of Adaptable, Passive-compliant Actuators, The Int. J. of Robotics Research, vol. 28 (2009) 90-103.

DOI: 10.1177/0278364908095333

[20] T. G. Sugar, K. W. Hollander and J. K. Hitt, Walking with Springs, The Int. Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), 7976 (2011) 1-15.