An intelligent landing controller for a simulated running jointed leg

Controlling the running movement of a machine with jointed legs is a difficult problem in robotics. The control of a single running stride can be broken down into three phases: takeoff, ballistic, and landing. The paper describes the development of an intelligent controller for the landing phase of a simulated jointed leg's running stride. The landing controller takes control when the foot touches the ground after the airborne ballistic phase of the stride. It learns from experience to control the leg so as to recover from the impact with the ground and to reposition the leg for the takeoff of the next running stride, Very accurate control is achieved even during the first attempt at the running stride.