Simultaneous Control of Attitude and Joint of Bipedal Walking Robot Using Control Moment Gyroscopes

Abstract In previous studies, attempts have been made to improve the attitude control of walking robots by adding control moment gyroscopes (CMGs). If CMGs can be used for both attitude control and joint actuation, there is more freedom in distributing torque between the joint actuators and the CMGs. This work proposes distributing multiple CMG units across numerous links to use CMGs simultaneously for attitude control and joint actuation. Focusing on a compass-type walking robot with two links, this paper formulates the relationship between the gimbal speeds of the CMGs and the robot’s attitude and joint angle. Based on the formulation, the steering law determining the speeds of multiple CMGs to realize desired torques is discussed and compared in simulation. The simulation confirmed that the steering law using the SR inverse matrix is effective. With the confirmed control strategy, walking using CMGs is demonstrated in simulation. The result showed that the robot can walk using only CMGs that control both attitude and joint.