Chapter 2

Literature Review
The desire to make a contraption capable of reducing human labour is pretty old. Literature studied suggests a lot of efforts have gone in understanding and replicating the elaborate motion programme of apparently simple Human Walk. The mission is far from complete. The available literature is categorized into four heads Development of state-of-the-art Humanoids (Robots), Comparison of Humanoid walk with Human walk, Methods for deeper insight into Human walk and Physiological changes due to walk.

2.1 Emulators of Human Walk

Effort to develop a device which will mimic the Human Walk is something more than Kinematic Obsession. While describing one such attempt at the locomotion lab of Cornell University the team has listed earlier efforts in details [1]. The oldest documented effort is in the form of a patent application for a very simple but innovative toy. This contraption, made out of 2 pieces of wire bent in a very elaborate manner to form a human figure; can perform walk on descending surface with shallow slope (Fig 1 a). In contrast is the state-of-the-art Humanoid Asimo from Honda. It has multiple controls & can perform human movements, along with walk, quite well. In evolutionary terms Cornell walker & Asimo are paradigms of two different genera. Cornell walker is Passive Dynamic walker & Asimo is a Humanoid or an Anthropoid or a Legged Robot.

2.1.1 Passive Dynamic Walkers :

The Patented toy of Fallis (year 1888) has no active power supply, e.g. the contemporary winding up arrangement. Once given a sideward tweak it starts descending on a shallow slope. The legs perform natural movements following laws of mechanics. The resulting walk without any active control of joint motion is termed Passive Dynamic Walk [2].

This basic arrangement remained unchanged for many decades and was refined further by many inventors (Bechstein, Wilson etc.). With proper attire they resembled walking human beings. In 1990 Tad McGeer started study of these walkers. He developed a walker with knees, whose walk resembles to a walk with crutches. S. Collins & others at Cornell improved these walkers by adding cross connected swinging arms & making appearance more like Human walker[3] Further development resulted in new Powered Passive Dynamic Walkers. These can walk on level surface. In these walkers gravity has been substituted with small actuators at joints. The one developed at Delft University has demarcated torso & almost human appearance (Fig 1 d). The one developed at Cornell has efficiency matching to that of human walk. In the said publication authors have claimed we note that no other robots have done particularly better at generating human like gaits even when using high performance motors, a plethora of sensors and sophisticated controls[4]. This success of Passive Dynamic Walkers with least controls & minimal power inputs suggests pursuing this line of development may unearth few vital clues in demystifying human walk.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 1. (a) Fallis Toy Walker (b) MIT biped walker (c) The Cornell Passive Dynamic Walker with swinging arms and knees (d) The Delft Walker[1],[4]

Passive Dynamic Walkers are successful in exhibiting our understanding of natural laws of motion and putting them to use for recreating Human Walk. The most important limitation of this class is inability to cope with different terrains. They do not have programming facility. These walkers cannot be put to a purposeful use, like synthesizing walk to carry minor loads. The aim of further literature survey is to understand present day status of emulation of Human Walk in Humanoids. Walking robots resembling humans are known by various names like ANDROIDS, ANTHROPOIDS, HUMANOIDS or more popularly ROBOTS. In this report the term Humanoid will be used to mean a BIPED ROBOT.

2.1.2 Humanoids: Humanoids e walk in a better way. Firstly they have active power source for executing planned displacement. Secondly, the joints have controlled motion which is the mainstay for mimicking human movements. Because of these two inputs & heavy demand from industry robotic arms had a rapid development. The first robotic arm made by Unimate was installed in 1960. There after analysis & design of robotic arm underwent a sea change [5]. Stationary nature of these devices relieved designers of the burden to make it dynamically stable. This study is to understand walking robots further. The real development of modern Humanoids started with late Professor Ichiro Kato (19251994) who pioneered Humanoids in Japan [6]. In 1966 he initiated a biped walking robot to analyze a human like walking mechanism at Waseda University. Professor Katos team developed a whole family of Waseda Legged (WL) robots during three decades. Listed below is a short list of glimpses in evolution of Humanoids, with specific emphasis on development of biped walk

Table 1. GLIMPSES OF EVOLUTION OF WALKING HUMANOIDS

1967, WL-1 It is an artificial biped walker constructed on the basis of a human leg mechanism as shown in figure 3a. The fundamental functions of biped locomotion were investigated with thisarrangement. [6]

1969, WL-3 This had an electro-hydraulic servo-actuator as shown in figure. It performed a little human-like movement in a swing phase and a stance phase using a masterslave control method. [6]

1971, WAP-3 WAP-3 (Waseda Activated Pedipulator-3) with PWM-driven actuators and a memory-based controller was constructed as shown in figure 3c and was able to move its centre of gravity on the frontal plane. It performed three-dimensional automatic biped walking for the first time in the worl [6]

1972, WL-5 An 11 degrees of freedom (d.f.) biped robot (two 5 d.f. legs and a 1 d.f. trunk), with laterally bendable body as shown in figure. It was controlled by a minicomputer.

[6]

1973,WABOT-1 WABOT-1, is the worlds first full-scale anthropomorphic robot. It was able to measure the distance and direction of objects using external receptors such as artificial ears and eyes. Hydraulically powered, it was built on WL-5 legs. It uses disproportionately large feet for stability. A shuffler more than a walker, WABOT-1 was able to walk statically. [http://www.humanoid.waseda.ac.jp/booklet/photo/WABOT-11973.jpg], [6].

1980, WL-9DR It was a 10 d.f. biped robot, controlled by a 16 bit Microcomputer. This robot achieved quasi-dynamic walking for the first time in the world.

[6]

1985, WL-10RD

It had torque sensors attached to the ankle and hip joint to achieve flexible control .Complete dynamic walking on a flat floor was achieved with a step time of 1.3 s per step using a program and sequence control. [7], [6]

1986, WL-12RIII .On a trapezoid floor with a slope of 10o, it achieved complete dynamic walking with a step speed of 1.6 s per step and a step length of 0.3 m. Also, dynamic walking was realized under an unknown external force of 100 N applied to its back. It is a hydraulic biped robot with a trunk and a 2 d.f. waist. It was constructed to simulate more human motion. A balance control algorithm was developed to improve walking stably, which compensates for moments generated by the motion of the lower limbs. Using the control method, WL-12RIII performed complete dynamic walking on a stair with a height of 0.1 m with a step speed of 2.6 s per step and a step length of 0.3 m. [6]

1996, HONDA P2 Like a human being this robot can walk forward, backward sideways towards left or right and even diagonally. With its unique Posture Stability Control this Robot can walk on uneven surface. It has capability to walk on a planned surface autonomously. A successful walking Humanoid. [8]

1999, WABIAN -2R This biped humanoid robot achieves human-like heel-contact toe-off walking. It is a 43 d.f. arrangement. It has a biped foot with one passive toe joint. WABIAN-2R walks with knees extended in strides of up to 0.35 m/step at 0.96 s/step.

[9]

2003, QRIO ( SONY) A toy robot 58 cm. tall and weighing 6.5 kg. It is a 28 d.f. arrangement. It can walk better and can recover from falls better.

[http://www.androidworld.com/prod01.htm],[10]

2005, HONDA ASIMO This is 54 kg., 130 cm tall Humanoid with 34 d.f. arrangement. It walks at a speed of 2.7 km/hr. It can run at 6.0 km/hr along straight path.

[http://www.androidworld.com/prod01.htm],[10]