The article presents SoftFoot, a completely passive adaptive foot design for robots which can enhance walking performance over irregular grounds. The design varies its shape and stiffness based on the exerted forces, through a system of pulley, tendons, and springs placed in the structure. The SoftFoot has been tested and compared with two conventional feet (rigid and compliant) and results show that it has the largest equivalent support surface when standing on obstacles, and absorbs impulsive loads almost as well as a compliant foot.
Publication date: 12 Jan 2024
Project Page: not provided
Paper: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2401.05318
