Fast, Robust and Versatile Humanoid Robot Locomotion with Minimal Sensor Input

Abstract

Abstract — The generation of fast and robust locomotion is one of the crucial problems to be solved for a competitive autonomous humanoid soccer robot. During the last decades many different approaches to solve this problem have been investigated. In this paper a simplified yet powerful approach for generation of locomotion for an autonomous humanoid robot is described. It is based on an open loop trajectory generation with an overlying gyroscope-based closed loop postural stabilization. Unlike other widely used approaches in humanoid robotics the trajectory generation is completely decoupled from the stabilization algorithm, thus simplifying design, implementation and testing of either algorithm. The only sensor required for postural stabilization is a two axis gyroscope in the robot’s hip. No further sensors like footground contact or force sensors, which are typically applied in many other approaches, are required. Nevertheless the presented approach exhibits remarkable performance. Furthermore this approach can be implemented easily in many available robots without complex modifications of the hardware. Experimental results for various types of locomotion are presented for two different robots used in the 2009 RoboCup Humanoid KidSize competition. I.