Kazushi Shimomura

Development of a new humanoid robot WABIAN-2

A new humanoid robot-WABIAN-2- that can be used as a human motion simulator is proposed in this paper. Its trunk is designed in order to permit rotation, and forward, backward, and sideway movement. Further, its arms are designed to support its complete weight when pushing a walk-assist machine. Moreover, it can lean on a walk-assist machine by forearm control using trunk motion. Basic walking experiments with WABIAN-2 are conducted with and without a walk-assist machine, thereby confirming its effectiveness

Human-like walking with knee stretched, heel-contact and toe-off motion by a humanoid robot

A humanoid robot, WABIAN-2R, capable of human-like walk with stretched knees and heel-contact and toe-off motions is proposed in this paper. WABIAN-2R has two 1-DOF passive joints in its feet to enable it to bend its toes in steady walking. Further, it has two 6-DOF legs, a 2-DOF pelvis, a 2-DOF trunk, two 7-DOF arms with 3-DOF hands, and a 3-DOF neck. In addition, a new algorithm for generating walking patterns with stretched knees and heel-contact and toe-off motions based on the ZMP criterion is described. In this pattern generation, some parameters of the foot trajectories of a biped robot are optimized by using a genetic algorithm in order to generate a continuous and smooth leg motion. Software simulations and walking experiments are conducted, and the effectiveness of the pattern generation and mechanism of WABIAN-2R, which have the ability to realize more human-like walking styles in a humanoid robot, are confirmed

A novel method of biped walking pattern generation with predetermined knee joint motion

This paper describes a method of motion pattern generation for biped humanoid robot to walk like humans or walk with various kind of motions. To realize biped walking avoiding singularity at stretching leg, pattern generation uses predetermined knee joint trajectories. Reduction of DOF by predetermination is complemented by waist motion. The effectiveness of generated dynamic walking patterns is confirmed by using a 16-DOF biped robot WABIAN-2/LL.

Evaluation of Various Walking Patterns of Biped Humanoid Robot

This paper describes the evaluation of three different walking patterns of a biped humanoid robot. Stretch-walking patterns with straight legs for a biped robot are compared with conventional walking patterns with bent legs in terms of energy consumption. This paper discusses walking pattern generation for various walks. To confirm the walking pattern evaluation, we have developed a biped robot, WABIAN-2/LL, whose leg mechanism differs from the conventional leg mechanism that has 3 DOF (degrees of freedom) in each ankle, 1 DOF in each knee, 3 DOF in each hip, and 2 DOF in the waist. Walking experiments are conducted with WABIAN-2/LL, and the results demonstrate that stretch walking patterns are effective in terms of energy consumption.

Development of a Humanoid Robot Capable of Leaning on a Walk-assist Machine

A new humanoid robot-WABIAN-2- that can be used as a human motion simulator is proposed in this paper. Its trunk is designed in order to permit rotation, and forward, backward, and sideway movement. Further, its arms are designed to support its complete weight when pushing a walk-assist machine. Moreover, it can lean on a walk-assist machine by forearm control using trunk motion. Basic walking experiments with WABIAN-2 are conducted with and without a walk-assist machine, thereby confirming its effectiveness

Biped Humanoid Robot Capable of Being Used as Human Motion Simulator

In the aging society, more effective rehabilitation/welfare instruments to support seniors and disabled persons are required. However, it becomes difficult the evaluation of such instruments for safety reasons. Therefore, we suggest the use of a humanoid robot, which is able to display human motions, instead of a human to evaluate such instruments as an experimental subject. The use of robots for measurement purposes is safe and gives us the quantitative data for improving rehabilitation/welfare instruments. Recently, we have developed the new humanoid robot as a human motion simulator, WABIAN-2. This robot can walk autonomously with the knees stretched like a human by using waist motion, and also it can walk by physically interacting with a walk-assist machine. In this paper, the experiments are focused verifying if the WABAIN-2 can be considered as a human motion simulator to move a walk-assist machine while walking.

Development of a New Humanoid Robot to Realize Various Walking Pattern Using Waist Motions

A new humanoid robot capable of various motions is proposed in this paper, which has a 2-DOF pelvis and 2-DOF trunk. A new upper body mechanism is mounted on a leg machine, WABIAN2/LL, and a full scale humanoid robot, WABIAN-2, is constructed in this study. Its trunk is designed to bend forwards, backwards and sideways and rotate in combination with a 2-DOF pelvis. Also, the upper body is designed in way that makes it able to use a walk-assist machine. Basic walking experiments with and without a walk-assist machine are conducted, and the effectiveness of the mechanism of WABIAN-2 is confirmed.