Perception of effective contact area distribution for humanoid robot foot

Maintaining dynamical stability for humanoid robots to walk or run in even environments has so far been achieved. However, it will become a challenge work to keep balance under rough terrains, because the effective contact area (ECA) between the feet and the uneven environments is less than that on even ground. Thus some control schemes are additionally needed for robot to keep dynamical balance, which increases the complexity of control. In view of that, flexible force sensor array (FFSA) system is adopted under robot feet to detect the ECA in the case of stepping on rough terrains. Structure optimum, data acquisition, processing methods, etc., of the FFSA system are all elaborately provided in this paper. And the feasibility and validity of the FFSA system mounted in the robot foot system are experimentally tested on the humanoid robot platform BHR-2.