Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller

High-speed walking is fundamental for humanoid robots to quickly reach the work site in emergency scenarios. According to biological studies, the coordinated motion of the arms and waist can significantly enhance walking speed and stability in humans. However, existing humanoid robot walking control...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiangji Wang, Wei Guo, Siyu Yin, Sen Zhang, Fusheng Zha, Mantian Li, Pengfei Wang, Xiaolin Li, Lining Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurorobotics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2025.1538979/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850023930331398144
author Xiangji Wang
Wei Guo
Siyu Yin
Sen Zhang
Fusheng Zha
Fusheng Zha
Mantian Li
Pengfei Wang
Xiaolin Li
Lining Sun
author_facet Xiangji Wang
Wei Guo
Siyu Yin
Sen Zhang
Fusheng Zha
Fusheng Zha
Mantian Li
Pengfei Wang
Xiaolin Li
Lining Sun
author_sort Xiangji Wang
collection DOAJ
description High-speed walking is fundamental for humanoid robots to quickly reach the work site in emergency scenarios. According to biological studies, the coordinated motion of the arms and waist can significantly enhance walking speed and stability in humans. However, existing humanoid robot walking control frameworks predominantly focus on leg control, often overlooking the utilization of upper body joints. In this paper, a novel walking control framework combining the improved footstep planner and the whole-body coordination controller is proposed, aiming to improve the humanoid robot's tracking accuracy of desired speeds and its dynamic walking capability. First, we analyze the issues in traditional footstep planners based on Linear Inverted Pendulum and Model Predictive Control (LIP-MPC). By reconstructing the footstep optimization problem during walking using the Center-of-Mass (CoM) position, we propose an improved footstep planner to enhance the control accuracy of the desired walking speed in humanoid robots. Next, based on biological research, we define a coordinated control strategy for the arms and waist during walking. Specifically, the waist increases the robot's step length, while the arms counteract disturbance momentum and maintain balance. Based on the aforementioned strategy, we design a whole-body coordination controller for the humanoid robot. This controller adopts a novel hierarchical design approach, in which the dynamics and motion controllers for the upper and lower body are modeled and managed separately. This helps avoid the issue of poor control performance caused by multi-task coupling in traditional whole-body controllers. Finally, we integrate these controllers into a novel walking control framework and validate it on the simulation prototype of the humanoid robot Dexbot. Simulation results show that the proposed framework significantly enhances the maximum walking capability of the humanoid robot, demonstrating its feasibility and effectiveness.
format Article
id doaj-art-01380c9c05e84a01bf5e631a4bf2147e
institution DOAJ
issn 1662-5218
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Neurorobotics
spelling doaj-art-01380c9c05e84a01bf5e631a4bf2147e2025-08-20T03:01:15ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurorobotics1662-52182025-02-011910.3389/fnbot.2025.15389791538979Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controllerXiangji Wang0Wei Guo1Siyu Yin2Sen Zhang3Fusheng Zha4Fusheng Zha5Mantian Li6Pengfei Wang7Xiaolin Li8Lining Sun9State Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaLanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, ChinaInstitute of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaInstitute of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Robotics and System Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, ChinaHigh-speed walking is fundamental for humanoid robots to quickly reach the work site in emergency scenarios. According to biological studies, the coordinated motion of the arms and waist can significantly enhance walking speed and stability in humans. However, existing humanoid robot walking control frameworks predominantly focus on leg control, often overlooking the utilization of upper body joints. In this paper, a novel walking control framework combining the improved footstep planner and the whole-body coordination controller is proposed, aiming to improve the humanoid robot's tracking accuracy of desired speeds and its dynamic walking capability. First, we analyze the issues in traditional footstep planners based on Linear Inverted Pendulum and Model Predictive Control (LIP-MPC). By reconstructing the footstep optimization problem during walking using the Center-of-Mass (CoM) position, we propose an improved footstep planner to enhance the control accuracy of the desired walking speed in humanoid robots. Next, based on biological research, we define a coordinated control strategy for the arms and waist during walking. Specifically, the waist increases the robot's step length, while the arms counteract disturbance momentum and maintain balance. Based on the aforementioned strategy, we design a whole-body coordination controller for the humanoid robot. This controller adopts a novel hierarchical design approach, in which the dynamics and motion controllers for the upper and lower body are modeled and managed separately. This helps avoid the issue of poor control performance caused by multi-task coupling in traditional whole-body controllers. Finally, we integrate these controllers into a novel walking control framework and validate it on the simulation prototype of the humanoid robot Dexbot. Simulation results show that the proposed framework significantly enhances the maximum walking capability of the humanoid robot, demonstrating its feasibility and effectiveness.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2025.1538979/fullhumanoid robotfootstep plannerlinear inverted pendulummodel predictive controlwhole-body coordination control
spellingShingle Xiangji Wang
Wei Guo
Siyu Yin
Sen Zhang
Fusheng Zha
Fusheng Zha
Mantian Li
Pengfei Wang
Xiaolin Li
Lining Sun
Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
Frontiers in Neurorobotics
humanoid robot
footstep planner
linear inverted pendulum
model predictive control
whole-body coordination control
title Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
title_full Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
title_fullStr Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
title_full_unstemmed Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
title_short Walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole-body coordination controller
title_sort walking control of humanoid robots based on improved footstep planner and whole body coordination controller
topic humanoid robot
footstep planner
linear inverted pendulum
model predictive control
whole-body coordination control
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbot.2025.1538979/full
work_keys_str_mv AT xiangjiwang walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT weiguo walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT siyuyin walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT senzhang walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT fushengzha walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT fushengzha walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT mantianli walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT pengfeiwang walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT xiaolinli walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller
AT liningsun walkingcontrolofhumanoidrobotsbasedonimprovedfootstepplannerandwholebodycoordinationcontroller