Foot Placement Estimator for Quadruped Push Recovery

A fast and stable walking ability is the most important measure for a quadruped robot. As the quadruped robot has relatively better environmental adaptability comparing with the biped robot, it is more suitable for outdoor operation, so its ability of push recovery is more important when facing with unexpected disturbance. It is known to us that there are some strategies for control the ankle and hip movement, foot stepping, etc. However, it is difficult to estimate and qualify various degree of push recovery of robot. Therefore, in this article we present the Foot Placement Estimator (FPE) which can help the quadruped robot to restore balance from an unexpected disturbance. The result can provide a feasible solution to estimate “When and where to take a step” for restoration balance of the quadruped robot.