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Passivity-Based
Control in Bipedal Locomotion
National
Science Foundation Grant 0510119
Start
Date: 1-Sep-2005
Duration:
3 years
Project
Description
This
project is to investigate passivity based control in
bipedal locomotion. In recent years, passivity based
control has proven to be one of the most powerful design
methodologies for the control of electromechanical systems
such as robot manipulators, underwater vehicles, induction
motors, automotive and aerospace systems, and others.
With a few exceptions the application of these methods
to walking robots and other systems with impacts has
not been adequately investigated. The project will explore
several extensions of bipedal locomotion in the context
of passivity based hybrid nonlinear control. The project
will investigate speed regulation, the use of alternate
potential functions to increase the basins of attraction
of stable limit cycles, the effect of control saturation
and under actuation in passivity based control, and
the efficiency of passivity based control methods compared
to true energy optimal control. It will also investigate
passivity based control of gait transitions, including
starting and stopping. The goal, and the technical merit
of the project, is to help solidify the foundations
of the field through analysis, development of new concepts,
and the design of provably correct control algorithms.
Another aspect of the project is to integrate the theoretical
tools of passivity based analysis and control with studies
of balance and locomotion in human subjects in order
to supplement the descriptive research typical in those
studies with more analytical methods. The practical
application of this research project is on the design
of walking robots that have improved performance capabilities
over existing machines. Current walking robots have
limited range due to poor energy utilization and are
limited in their ability to navigate rough terrain.
More practical and more efficient walking machines will
result once the full power of available theoretical
tools is brought to bear on the analysis and design
questions in this project. From a broader perspective,
the applications of this research will extend beyond
the design of improved walking machines. The analysis
and design tools developed in this project will also
contribute to a better understanding of human locomotion,
which will result in applications in biomechanics and
biomedicine, such as the design of improved prosthetic
devices, the development of falls prevention programs
for the elderly, and rehabilitation techniques. The
impact of falls among the elderly in the United States
alone has a yearly impact on the economy of more than
ten billion dollars in medical bills and other expenses.
The improved modeling and analysis tools of this project
will be applied to real data obtained from human subjects
in order to understand not only how aging affects balance
and locomotion, but also how to develop intervention
techniques to decrease the rate of falls.
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