Stability Analysis of Passive Dynamic Walking of Quadrupeds

We introduce a detailed numerical simulation and analysis framework to extend the principles of passive dynamic walking to quadrupedal locomotion. Non-linear limit cycle methods are used to identify possible gaits and to analyze the stability and efficiency of quadrupedal passive dynamic walking. In doing so, special attention is paid to issues that are inherent to quadrupedal locomotion, such as the occurrence of simultaneous contact collisions and the implications of the phase difference between front and back leg pairs. Limit cycles identified within this framework correspond to periodic gaits and can be placed into two categories: in-phase gaits in which front and back legs hit the ground at roughly the same time, and out-of-phase gaits with a 1902 phase shift between the back and front leg pairs. The latter are, in comparison, energetically more efficient but exhibit one unstable eigenvalue that leads to a phase divergence and results in a gait-transition to a less efficient in-p...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: IJRR
• Authors: C. David Remy, Keith W. Buffinton, Roland Siegwart
• Keywords: IJRR 2010, In-phase Gait, Leg Pairs, Out-of-phase Gait