Balance Control of a Humanoid Robot Based on the Reaction Null Space Method

A humanoid robot should be able to keep its balance even in the presence of disturbing forces. Studies of human body reaction patterns to sudden external forces are useful to develop balance control strategies. In this paper we show that two such reaction patterns, called "hip strategy" and "slipping" respectively, can be modeled by means of the reaction null-space method developed earlier for space robots. We use a simple simulation model to confirm the validity. Also, experimental data from a small humanoid robot (HOAP-2) is presented