Function Analysis of Human Foot Mechanisms, using Mechanically Constrained 2-DOF Shoes

Abstract

In this paper, we focused on the degrees-of-freedom for robot foot mechanisms. To realize the functions of humanlike locomotion on biped robots, we should know the fundamental aspects of human foot mechanisms through intensive observations of human locomotion. We proposed a novel mechanical shoe with a 2-DOF toe part. Two toe-plates of the toe part move independently and they are able to constrain human foot in various ways. Wearing the mechanical shoes, three subjects were asked to walk in straight, zigzag and slalom courses. We measured their walking speed, toe joint angles and center-of-pressure on their feet. Through these observations, we show that a biped robot with our proposed toe mechanism could potentially walk faster than the conventional ones.