Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : Dynamics and Design Conference 2018
Date : August 28, 2018 - August 31, 2018
A passive walker can walk down a slope without any actuators, using energy efficiently and with a natural walking style that is similar to that of any human. We may be able to manufacture an efficient walking robot if we investigate passive walking. This study investigates a passive walker having ankles and flat feet. First, we investigate the relation between the slope angle and gait; the higher the slope angle, the greater will be the step length and the walking speed. Second, we studied the relation between the ankle stiffness and gait; the greater the ankle stiffness, the shorter will be the contact time between the sole and the slope. The step length and walking speed also increased with an increasing ankle stiffness. However, when the ankle stiffness surpassed the threshold, the amount of changes in these parameters was observed to reduce. Further, the step period was constant despite changing the ankle stiffness and the slope angle.
