Guided self-organization for control of bipedal walking

While efficient walking can be achieved by the exploitation of passive dynamics, stability and flexibility of the gaits require adaptive control and remains a challenge in robotic and prosthetic applications. The complexity of the dynamics suggests a hybrid approach that we design by a genetic algorithm for the evolution of a system of low-dimensional control structures, a homeokinetic exploration of the controllable movements and a reinforcement algorithm for the goal-oriented development of the generated elementary behaviors. The results of the study are demonstrated by a physically realistic three dimensional model of a walking robot.