Optimization of Mass and Stiffness Distribution for Efficient Bipedal Walking

Energy-efficient control of bipedal walking robots requires both minimization of mechanical energy losses (often mainly due to impacts) and the use of natural oscillations in a mechanism to minimize actuator torques (as shown by research on passive dynamic walking). In this paper, we discuss how these aspects can be analyzed and optimized using mathematical models of the dynamics, as opposed to using only engineering intuition and experimental results. We use a simple planar three-link robot as an example to illustrate the ideas.