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Design of Humanoid Robot Foot to Absorb Ground Reaction Force by Mimicking Longitudinal Arch and Transverse Arch of Human Foot

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Abstract

In this paper, we describe a double arched robotic Foot-1 (DARFT-1) for a humanoid robot. The feet of many humanoid robots are equipped with force/torque (F/T) sensors for various purposes of walking control, including the calculation of zero-moment-point (ZMP), contact detection, and contact force control. However, there are cases where unexpectedly large ground reaction force (GRF) is applied to the F/T sensor when the humanoid robot walks on uneven ground, causing the F/T sensor to break easily. To protect the F/T sensor and achieve the mechanical filter effect, various robot feet are being studied. We propose a robot foot that mimics the longitudinal arch and transverse arch of a human foot to absorb GRF effectively. Each arch of the proposed foot consists of passive joints and springs and is designed with a 2-degrees-of-freedom (DoF) structure. Furthermore, DARFT-1 is designed to prevent external obstacles from entering the sole of the foot, while also being designed for shape adaptation to uneven ground. To verify the effectiveness of the designed foot, GRF measurement experiments were conducted by mounting the DARFT-1 on the humanoid robot DRC-HUBO+. Through the experiments, the DARFT-1 reduced GRF by an average of 9.8% and 10.02% in three trials when placing the obstacle on the front and side of the foot, respectively, compared to the previous foot. In addition, the proposed foot performed as a mechanical filter by reducing the rate of change in the GRF. Furthermore, the reduced GRF decreased the ZMP, improving the stability of the humanoid robot’s walk.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Robot & Smart System Engineering, Kyungpook National University, 80, Daehakro, Buk-gu, Daegu, 41566, Korea

    Jindeok Lee & Hyun-Min Joe

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  1. Jindeok Lee
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  2. Hyun-Min Joe
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Correspondence to Hyun-Min Joe.

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This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(MSIT) (No. 2022R1C1C101311512).

Jindeok Lee received his B.S. degree in mechatronics engineering from Dongseo University, Busan, Korea, in 2020. Since 2021, he has been with the Department of Robot & Smart System Engineering at the Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea, where he is currently in M.S. degree program. His research interests include design of humanoid robot.

Hyun-Min Joe received his B.S. degree in mechanical and control engineering from the Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea, in 2011, and a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea, in 2018. Since 2020, he has been with the Department of Robot & Smart System Engineering from the Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea, where he is currently an assistant professor. His research interests include humanoid robot, walking control, and applications of robotics and control. He was a member of TEAM KAIST that won the 1st place in DARPA Robotics Challenge Final 2015 and performed terrain and stair missions.

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Lee, J., Joe, HM. Design of Humanoid Robot Foot to Absorb Ground Reaction Force by Mimicking Longitudinal Arch and Transverse Arch of Human Foot. Int. J. Control Autom. Syst. 21, 3519–3527 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-023-0387-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12555-023-0387-6

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