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GRASP Student Seminar Series: Spring 2006
March 15, 5:00 PM, 307 Levine Hall
Jonathan Clark
"A Simple Dynamic Climbing Model: Power
and Stability"
Abstract: A dynamic model of running -- the spring-loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) -- has proven effective in describing the force patterns found in a wide variety of animals. The SLIP model has also been useful in designing and constructing a number of terrestrial running robots, such as the RHex and Sprawl family of robots, which will be briefly discussed.
Climbing or vertical locomotion has, on the other hand, lacked such a simple and powerful dynamic model. Legged climbing robots to date have all been quasi-static in their operation. This talk describes work toward developing simple models for dynamic climbing. The bulk of the talk describes efforts to analyze a simple 1DOF model, with emphasis placed on dealing with power constraints and the stability of dynamic climbing. I conclude by discussing a promising 2DOF simulation and thoughts about the construction of a fast, dynamic robot based on these models.
Biography: Jon is a postdoctoral researcher in Dan Koditschek's lab. His research to date has focused on the design and construction of a new class of legged robots for operation on unstructured terrain. This has been accomplished by bringing together novel manufacturing techniques with locomotion insights gained from collaboration with biologists.
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