Design of a fuzzy walking pattern (FWP) for a shape memory alloy (SMA) biped robot

Abstract

The Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) is a device which is lightweight and small in volume. The SMA can be used as the actuator of a micro-robot, but it is difficult to design a controller to handle the highly nonlinear properties of the SMA. In this paper, a Fuzzy Walking Pattern (FWP) is proposed to control a small biped robot, using an SMA as the actuator. In fact, the desired walking pattern of the small biped robot is used to construct the FWP. The proposed FWP can control the biped robot under the desired walking pattern, and handle the exceptional case when the biped robot is subject to disturbance. The proposed FWP not only solves the control problem of the SMA, but also provides a new method in controller design of the biped robot. In addition, a transputer network is designed to impelement the FWP. Experimental results demonstrate the functions of the FWP.