Optimal parameters for stable walking of a compass-like biped robot

We maximize the speed of a compass-like biped robot for the passive locomotion case. A straight forward application of nonlinear programming methods results in an unstable walking trajectory. In order to obtain an optimal and stable result we apply the normal vector method. This requires extending the method to the class of hybrid systems modeled by impulsive differential equations. We show that the method can cope with stability constraints and parametric uncertainty.