Abstract
This paper investigates the roles of passive knee-joints in dynamic biped locomotion systems from the viewpoint of mechanical energy cycle. We introduce two planar biped walking models for analyses; one is with semicircular feet and the other is with flat feet. Viscosity at knee-joint is considered as a function to distribute mechanical energy dissipation and its effect on walking speed is numerically investigated. The analysis results and properties of the two models are compared, and the importance of mechanical energy dissipation in dynamic biped locomotion is discussed.
