Human-inspired balance model to account for foot-beam interaction mechanics

Abstract

The locomotion and balance capabilities of bipedal robots have greatly improved in recent years. However, maintaining balance on difficult terrain still poses a significant challenge. In this paper, we examined how humans maintain mediolateral balance when standing on a narrow beam with bare feet and wearing rigid soles. Our results show that foot-beam interaction dynamics critically influence balancing behavior. Importantly, this suggests that differences in human balancing behavior across different support surfaces may not solely result from changes in their neural control strategy. They may also result from changes in foot-ground interaction. Thus, the altered foot-ground interaction dynamics must be considered to accurately capture changes in the human controller across different support surfaces. A simplified model of foot-beam interaction was added to a double inverted pendulum model for human balancing. This extended model could replicate the change in human behavior across different foot contact conditions (bare feet vs. rigid feet). A better understanding of how humans coordinate whole-body behavior across a range of conditions may inform the development of balance controllers for bipedal robots.