Feedback design for Harpy: a test bed to inspect thruster-assisted legged locomotion

Abstract

In this paper, we report our preliminary simulation-based efforts in designing feedback for the thruster-assisted walking of a bipedal robot, called Harpy, currently being developed at Northeastern University. The biped is equipped with a total of eight actuators, and two pairs of coaxial thrusters fixed to its torso. Each leg is equipped with three actuated joints, the actuators located at the hip allow the legs to move sideways and actuation in the lower portion of the legs is realized through a parallelogram mechanism. Two extra actuators rotate the thrusters with respect to the torso, therefore, they provide more flexibility in control.