Impact relaxation control system of jumping humanoid robot

We propose a landing control for a humanoid robot in order to soften the shock when a robot jumps from a slightly higher surface such as a step. We fabricated a three-link robot mechanism with two DC motors, and controlled it using a personal computer. The designed actuator uses a cushion mechanism with a torsion spring. We monitored the robot motion with a CCD camera, and analyzed the captured pictures using motion analysis software. We have confirmed that the robot is able to land on a hard surface without maintaining damage.