Legged Robots (MICRO-507)
I was a teaching assistant for this Master course at EPFL.
About the course
The design, control and applications of legged robots: a review of two-, four- and multi-legged robots and of the control methods for legged locomotion. Students also learn to analyse key papers in the field critically, and to design their own models and locomotion controllers in simulation.
Topics
- History of legged robotics: two-, four- and multi-legged robots
- Mechanical structures: passive and dynamic walkers
- Background concepts: static versus dynamic stability, stability criteria (zero-moment point, capturability…), energy consumption and cost of transport, state estimation
- Simple models of locomotion: rimless wheel, inverted pendulums (LIP, SLIP), template versus anchor models
- Control approaches: trajectory-based methods, virtual leg and virtual model control, hybrid zero dynamics, optimal control, planning, reinforcement learning and bio-inspired approaches
- Reading and presenting key papers of the field
- Numerical exercises: students build their own controllers for simulated legged robots, with weekly sessions with the assistants and the professor