Role of compliant mechanics and motor control in hopping - from human to robot.

Compliant leg function found during bouncy gaits in humans and animals can be considered a role model for designing and controlling bioinspired robots and assistive devices. The human musculoskeletal design and control differ from distal to proximal joints in the leg. The specific mechanical properties of different leg parts could simplify motor control, e.

Reconstruction of human swing leg motion with passive biarticular muscle models.

Template models, which are utilized to demonstrate general aspects in human locomotion, mostly investigate stance leg operation. The goal of this paper is presenting a new conceptual walking model benefiting from swing leg dynamics. Considering a double pendulum equipped with combinations of biarticular springs for the swing leg beside spring-mass (SLIP) model for the stance leg, a novel SLIP-based model, is proposed to explain human-like leg behavior in walking.