The Ohio State University

The potential advantages of legged locomotion over wheeled or tracked locomotion are well recognized, the most fundamental being the abilities to step over support discontinuities and to use sparse footholds. Recognizing these advantages, researchers have sought to develop legged robotic platforms. Historically the gaits induced in these machines were purposefully slow as to enable static or quasi-static metrics of stability. Apart from the obvious disadvantage of low progression rates, such gaits are energy inefficient. A primary goal of this lab is to develop design principles and control theory approaches for legged machines that are able to realize fast and efficient locomotion. Also being explored is the application of the understanding gained from the study of robotic locomotion to the study of human gait and lower-limb prosthetic design.