Pattern Generation for Bipedal Walking on Slopes and Stairs

Uneven terrain walking is one of the key challenges in bipedal walking. In this paper, we propose a motion pattern generator for slope walking in 3D dynamics using preview control of zero moment point (ZMP). In this method, the future ZMP locations are selected with respect to known slope gradient. The trajectory of the Center of Mass (CoM) of the robot is generated by using the preview controller to maintain the ZMP at the desired location. Two models of slope walking, namely upslope and downslope, are investigated. Continuous walking on slopes with different gradients is also studied to enable the robots to walk on uneven terrains. Since staircase walking is similar to slope walking, the slope walking trajectory generator can also be applied to the staircase walking. Simulation results show that the robot can walk on many types of slopes and stairs by using the proposed pattern generator.