Energy Based Swing Control of a Brachiating Robot

In this paper, we present a control method to realize continuous brachiation. The target brachiation is basically divided into two actions: a swing action and a locomotion action. In order to realize the continuous brachiation effectively and stably, it is necessary to control these actions according to the total energy of the system. Because brachiation has been modeled as a pendulum-like motion and the amplitude of the oscillation determines whether the robot can grasp the target bar or not. In consideration of this point, an energy based control method is proposed and introduced into the swing action controller. The purpose of this method is to control the angular velocity of the swing action in order to satisfy the desired energy evaluated by the distance of bars. Experimental results show that the robot can successfully achieve smooth, continuous brachiation.