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Foot Placement Selection Using Non-geometric Visual Properties

Iguana Robotics, Inc., PO Box 625, Urbana, IL 61803, USA, tlewis{at}iguana-robotics.com

Hyo-Kyung Lee

Iguana Robotics, Inc., PO Box 625, Urbana, IL 61803, USA

Aftab Patla

Department of Kinesiology, University of Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

Geometric information alone is not sufficient to guide foot placement in arobotic device. A travel path may be firm or soft, slippery or sticky, and will thus affect locomotion. In humans, associations are made between various travel surfaces and gait modification. If a preferred foot position is unavailable, an alternate is selected. This selection is biased, and not random. Here we present a model of alternate foot placement. We demonstrate some novel properties of the model, thus showing its predictive value. We give results in a small bipedal walking mechanism. The power of our approach is that it captures key features of human performance and can be easily implemented in most walking machines.

Key Words: legged robots • walking machines • biped robot • visually guided robots • visuometer coordination

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