Intelligent Systems
Note: This research group has relocated.

Power to the springs: Passive elements are sufficient to drive push-off in human walking

2022

Conference Paper

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For the impulsive ankle push-off (APO) observed in human walking two muscle-tendon-units (MTUs) spanning the ankle joint play an important role: Gastrocnemius (GAS) and Soleus (SOL). GAS and SOL load the Achilles tendon to store elastic energy during stance followed by a rapid energy release during APO. We use a neuromuscular simulation (NMS) and a bipedal robot to investigate the role of GAS and SOL on the APO. We optimize the simulation for a robust gait and then sequentially replace the MTUs of (1) GAS, (2) SOL and (3) GAS and SOL by linear springs. To validate the simulation, we implement NMS-3 on a bipedal robot. Simulation and robot walk steady for all trials showing an impulsive APO. Our results imply that the elastic MTU properties shape the impulsive APO. For prosthesis or robot design that is, no complex ankle actuation is needed to obtain an impulsive APO, if more mechanical intelligence is incorporated in the design.

Author(s): Alexandra Buchmann and Bernadett Kiss and Alexander Badri-Spröwitz and Daniel Renjewski
Book Title: Robotics in Natural Settings
Pages: 21--32
Year: 2022
Month: August
Series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 530
Editors: Cascalho, José M. and Tokhi, Mohammad Osman and Silva, Manuel F. and Mendes, Armando and Goher, Khaled and Funk, Matthias
Publisher: Springer
Department(s): Dynamic Locomotion
Bibtex Type: Conference Paper (inproceedings)
Paper Type: Conference
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-15226-9_5
Event Name: 25th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots and the Support Technologies for Mobile Machine (CLAWAR 2022)
Event Place: Ponta Delgada
Address: Cham
ISBN: 978-3-031-15225-2
State: Published
URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2205.00871.pdf

BibTex 

@inproceedings{buch2022a,
  title = {Power to the springs: Passive elements are sufficient to drive push-off in human walking},
  author = {Buchmann, Alexandra and Kiss, Bernadett and Badri-Spr{\"o}witz, Alexander and Renjewski, Daniel},
  booktitle = {Robotics in Natural Settings },
  pages = {21--32},
  series = {Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 530},
  editors = {Cascalho, José M. and Tokhi, Mohammad Osman and Silva, Manuel F. and Mendes, Armando and Goher, Khaled and Funk, Matthias},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address = {Cham},
  month = aug,
  year = {2022},
  doi = {10.1007/978-3-031-15226-9_5},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/pdf/2205.00871.pdf},
  month_numeric = {8}
}