An Experimental Study of Energy-Saving Shoes for Robot as Sagittal Plane Assistance

Abstract

In this paper, we propose flexible shoe system to apply passive walking manner to ordinary humanoid biped. In this system, 2DOF (FF & FB) control scheme is used and realize walking with less ankle torque. Besides, this system is consisted as reference modification of position control system, so it can be applicable to most of walking robot even if its joint servo is black box. The effectiveness and characteristics of this system is confirmed by computer simulations and experimental result. The softness of shoe is very important parameter for energy consumption and walking stability. From the discussions of the system, it is said that sagittal plane assistance shoes reduce the energy loss due to the ankle joint friction. Finally, we confirmed the reduction of energy consumption on walking experiment, so we call this system as “energy saving shoes.”