TitleTails in Biomimetic Design: Analysis, Simulation, and Experiment
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2012
Date Published11/2012
AuthorsBriggs, R., J. Lee, M. Haberland, and S. Kim
Conference NameIntelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2012 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on
Conference LocationVilamoura, Portugal
PublisherIEEE
ISBN Number978-1-4673-1737-5
Refereed DesignationRefereed
AbstractAnimals use tails to improve locomotion performance; here we assess how the biomimetic MIT Cheetah robot can do the same. Analysis proves that for a given power and weight, tails can provide greater average torque than reaction wheels for the short times of interest in high speed running. A simple tail controller enables the cheetah to perform aerial orientation maneuvers in simulation. The MIT Cheetah robot's tail rejects an impulsive disturbance from a 'wrecking ball' in experiments. This study demonstrates that a tail will help the MIT Cheetah achieve its goal of 30mph locomotion by 2014.
DOI10.1109/IROS.2012.6386240
URLhttp://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=6386240&tag=1