Design and modeling of an open platform for dynamic walking research

In this paper we outline the design and parameter identification of a low-cost "compass-gait" bipedal robot for dynamic walking experiments. A compass gait walker exhibits a desirable balance of complexity in the dynamics and mechanical simplicity, making it a good candidate for a physical realization. In the hope of making the hardware of such walking robot more accessible to other researchers, we describe the the mechanical design, the software interface, as well as the dynamic modelling and parameter identification of a planar compass gait walker. Controlled walking experiments have also been performed to validate our model.