iCub Robot with Push Recovery Controller to Avoid Falls

Teaching robots to recover from a push or avoid a fall is not always straight forward. Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia has shared a video that explores a stepping strategy for iCub to recover from a push and keep its balance. After a push, the robot understands it is time to put its foot in the right position to avoid losing its balance. Here is how it works:

This approach mimics humans reactions to pushes, but its development resorts to simple models like the Linear Inverted Pendulum.  After the push, the robot understands it is the right moment to start moving, then it places the swing foot in a position computed depending on the perturbation, ensuring the robot won’t fall once in double support.

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