A VARIATIONAL APPROACH TO THE OPTIMIZATION OF GAIT FOR A BIPEDAL ROBOT

This paper presents a method for optimizing the walking motions of a p lanar five-link biped. The technique starts with non-linear kinematic and dynamic models for both the single-support and impact stages of mo tion. A variational technique is then used to derive joint trajectorie s that minimize a simple cost function. The resulting two-point bounda ry value problem is solved using a finite difference technique, with t rajectories obtained from a simple linearized model as initial conditi ons. Families of optimal trajectories for different step periods and s tep lengths are presented.