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Limit cycles generation for energy-efficient bipedal walking via nonlinear model predictive control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2025

Yuta Hanazawa Open the ORCID record for Yuta Hanazawa [Opens in a new window] ,
Yuhi Uchino  and
Shinichi Sagara
Yuta Hanazawa*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
Yuhi Uchino
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
Shinichi Sagara
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Control Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kitakyushu, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Yuta Hanazawa; Email: hanazawa@cntl.kyutech.ac.jp
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Abstract

This paper proposes an energy-efficient walking generation method utilizing limit cycles generated by nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC). Conventional limit cycle walking methods rely on strong feedback, such as output zeroing control, to attract the robot’s state toward a predefined periodic trajectory. However, we hypothesize that employing feedback control that better leverages the robot’s dynamics can improve energy efficiency during walking. Our previous work confirmed that using limit cycles generated by NMPC can produce energy-efficient walking patterns. This study builds upon this foundation and proposes a new method for generating walking in a general five-link bipedal robot. Through extensive numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed method achieves highly energy-efficient walking while exhibiting excellent convergence to periodic trajectories.

Keywords

biped robotwalking robotmodel predictive controllimit cycle

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Type
Research Article
Information
Robotica , First View , pp. 1 - 36
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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