Visual walking direction control by regulating torsional deflection for biped robot

This paper describes a vision-based walking direction control method by using the torsional deflection at the supporting foot in biped robot system. Conventionally, the motion pattern of swing foot needs to be modified for changing the walking direction. In our approach, the flexible ankle joint is employed, and its torsional deflection around yaw axis is intentionally generated by the reaction torque of upper body motion. This means the modification of the swing foot motion is not required for changing the walking direction. In order to settle the desired direction, the reaction torque is proportionally modified by visual feedback regulator. The validity is evaluated by several experimental results.