Real and Complex Analysis

Passive-dynamic walkers are simple mechanical devices, composed of solid parts connected by joints, that walk stably down a slope. They have no motors or controllers, yet can have remarkably humanlike motions. This suggests that these machines are useful models of human locomotion; however, they cannot walk on level ground. Here we present three robots based on passive-dynamics, with small active power sources substituted for gravity, which can walk on level ground. These robots use less control and less energy than other powered robots, yet walk more naturally, further suggesting the importance of passive-dynamics in human locomotion.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/307/5712/1082.full.pdf

Efficient bipedal robots based on passive-dynamic walkers.

Robust stability and control for systems that combine continuous-time and discrete-time dynamics. This article is a tutorial on modeling the dynamics of hybrid systems, on the elements of stability theory for hybrid systems, and on the basics of hybrid control. The presentation and selection of material is oriented toward the analysis of asymptotic stability in hybrid systems and the design of stabilizing hybrid controllers. Our emphasis on the robustness of asymptotic stability to data perturbation, external disturbances, and measurement error distinguishes the approach taken here from other approaches to hybrid systems. While we make some connections to alternative approaches, this article does not aspire to be a survey of the hybrid system literature, which is vast and multifaceted.

Hybrid dynamical systems

Bipedal locomotion is among the most difficult challenges in control engineering. Most books treat the subject from a quasi-static perspective, overlooking the hybrid nature of bipedal mechanics. Feedback Control of Dynamic Bipedal Robot Locomotion is the first book to present a comprehensive and mathematically sound treatment of feedback design for achieving stable, agile, and efficient locomotion in bipedal robots.In this unique and groundbreaking treatise, expert authors lead you systematically through every step of the process, including:Mathematical modeling of walking and running gaits in planar robotsAnalysis of periodic orbits in hybrid systemsDesign and analysis of feedback systems for achieving stable periodic motionsAlgorithms for synthesizing feedback controllersDetailed simulation examplesExperimental implementations on two bipedal test bedsThe elegance of the authors' approach is evident in the marriage of control theory and mechanics, uniting control-based presentation and mathematical custom with a mechanics-based approach to the problem and computational rendering. Concrete examples and numerous illustrations complement and clarify the mathematical discussion. A supporting Web site offers links to videos of several experiments along with MATLAB® code for several of the models. This one-of-a-kind book builds a solid understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of truly dynamic locomotion in planar bipedal robots.

/pdf/feedback-control-of-dynamic-bipedal-robot-locomotion-2pz7pbjgsi.pdf

Feedback Control of Dynamic Bipedal Robot Locomotion

Planar, underactuated, biped walkers form an important domain of applications for hybrid dynamical systems. This paper presents the design of exponentially stable walking controllers for general planar bipedal systems that have one degree-of-freedom greater than the number of available actuators. The within-step control action creates an attracting invariant set - a two-dimensional zero dynamics submanifold of the full hybrid model $whose restriction dynamics admits a scalar linear time-invariant return map. Exponentially stable periodic orbits of the zero dynamics correspond to exponentially stabilizable orbits of the full model. A convenient parameterization of the hybrid zero dynamics is imposed through the choice of a class of output functions. Parameter optimization is used to tune the hybrid zero dynamics in order to achieve closed-loop, exponentially stable walking with low energy consumption, while meeting natural kinematic and dynamic constraints. The general theory developed in the paper is illustrated on a five link walker, consisting of a torso and two legs with knees.

/pdf/hybrid-zero-dynamics-of-planar-biped-walkers-1f08i7dzjl.pdf

Hybrid zero dynamics of planar biped walkers

Biped robots form a subclass of legged or walking robots. The study of mechanical legged motion has been motivated by its potential use as a means of locomotion in rough terrain, as well as its potential benefits to prothesis development and testing. The paper concentrates on issues related to the automatic control of biped robots. More precisely, its primary goal is to contribute a means to prove asymptotically-stable walking in planar, underactuated biped robot models. Since normal walking can be viewed as a periodic solution of the robot model, the method of Poincare sections is the natural means to study asymptotic stability of a walking cycle. However, due to the complexity of the associated dynamic models, this approach has had limited success. The principal contribution of the present work is to show that the control strategy can be designed in a way that greatly simplifies the application of the method of Poincare to a class of biped models, and, in fact, to reduce the stability assessment problem to the calculation of a continuous map from a subinterval of R to itself. The mapping in question is directly computable from a simulation model. The stability analysis is based on a careful formulation of the robot model as a system with impulse effects and the extension of the method of Poincare sections to this class of models.

/pdf/asymptotically-stable-walking-for-biped-robots-analysis-via-1fe3i0vaa4.pdf

Asymptotically stable walking for biped robots: analysis via systems with impulse effects

This article proposes new methodologies for the design of adaptive sliding mode control. The goal is to obtain a robust sliding mode adaptive-gain control law with respect to uncertainties and perturbations without the knowledge of uncertainties/perturbations bound (only the boundness feature is known). The proposed approaches consist in having a dynamical adaptive control gain that establishes a sliding mode in finite time. Gain dynamics also ensures that there is no overestimation of the gain with respect to the real a priori unknown value of uncertainties. The efficacy of both proposed algorithms is confirmed on a tutorial example and while controlling an electropneumatic actuator.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00626498/document

New methodologies for adaptive sliding mode control

A novel adaptive-gain supertwisting sliding mode controller: Methodology and application

Describes the design, construction and control of an experimental bipedal robot platform for the study of walking.

/pdf/rabbit-a-testbed-for-advanced-control-theory-5ce0g6ojg5.pdf

Franck Plestan

Papers

Asymptotically stable walking for biped robots: analysis via systems with impulse effects

New methodologies for adaptive sliding mode control

A novel adaptive-gain supertwisting sliding mode controller: Methodology and application

RABBIT: a testbed for advanced control theory

Brief paper: Higher order sliding mode control based on integral sliding mode