Constrained Quadratic Programming and Neurodynamics-Based Solver for Energy Optimization of Biped Walking Robots

The application of biped robots is always trapped by their high energy consumption. This paper makes a contribution by optimizing the joint torques to decrease the energy consumption without changing the biped gaits. In this work, a constrained quadratic programming (QP) problem for energy optimization is formulated. A neurodynamics-based solver is presented to solve the QP problem. Differing from the existing literatures, the proposed neurodynamics-based energy optimization (NEO) strategy minimizes the energy consumption and guarantees the following three important constraints simultaneously: (i) the force-moment equilibrium equation of biped robots, (ii) frictions applied by each leg on the ground to hold the biped robot without slippage and tipping over, and (iii) physical limits of the motors. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed strategy is effective for energy efficient biped walking.