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STRIDE: An Open-Source, Low-Cost, and Versatile Bipedal Robot Platform for Research and Education

Yuhao Huang, Yicheng Zeng, Xiaobin Xiong

TL;DR

STRIDE presents an open-source, low-cost planar bipedal robot platform designed for research and education, with a modular hardware stack and ROS2-based software that supports rapid prototyping and evaluation. The control approach combines a Hybrid Linear Inverted Pendulum (H-LIP) reduced-order model with Step-to-Step dynamics (S2S) and an adaptive extension to improve velocity tracking, demonstrated on rigid and soft terrains with a measurable disturbance injection system. Key contributions include a modular, readily assembleable design below $2000$, a terrain and disturbance module for robust evaluation, and a demonstration pipeline integrating hardware and simulation via MuJoCo and ROS2. The platform enables rapid algorithm development, hardware design optimization, and educational experimentation, with future work targeting planning, estimation, and learning-based control in legged locomotion.

Abstract

In this paper, we present STRIDE, a Simple, Terrestrial, Reconfigurable, Intelligent, Dynamic, and Educational bipedal platform. STRIDE aims to propel bipedal robotics research and education by providing a cost-effective implementation with step-by-step instructions for building a bipedal robotic platform while providing flexible customizations via a modular and durable design. Moreover, a versatile terrain setup and a quantitative disturbance injection system are augmented to the robot platform to replicate natural terrains and push forces that can be used to evaluate legged locomotion in practical and adversarial scenarios. We demonstrate the functionalities of this platform by realizing an adaptive step-to-step dynamics based walking controller to achieve dynamic walking. Our work with the open-soured implementation shows that STRIDE is a highly versatile and durable platform that can be used in research and education to evaluate locomotion algorithms, mechanical designs, and robust and adaptative controls.

STRIDE: An Open-Source, Low-Cost, and Versatile Bipedal Robot Platform for Research and Education

TL;DR

STRIDE presents an open-source, low-cost planar bipedal robot platform designed for research and education, with a modular hardware stack and ROS2-based software that supports rapid prototyping and evaluation. The control approach combines a Hybrid Linear Inverted Pendulum (H-LIP) reduced-order model with Step-to-Step dynamics (S2S) and an adaptive extension to improve velocity tracking, demonstrated on rigid and soft terrains with a measurable disturbance injection system. Key contributions include a modular, readily assembleable design below , a terrain and disturbance module for robust evaluation, and a demonstration pipeline integrating hardware and simulation via MuJoCo and ROS2. The platform enables rapid algorithm development, hardware design optimization, and educational experimentation, with future work targeting planning, estimation, and learning-based control in legged locomotion.

Abstract

In this paper, we present STRIDE, a Simple, Terrestrial, Reconfigurable, Intelligent, Dynamic, and Educational bipedal platform. STRIDE aims to propel bipedal robotics research and education by providing a cost-effective implementation with step-by-step instructions for building a bipedal robotic platform while providing flexible customizations via a modular and durable design. Moreover, a versatile terrain setup and a quantitative disturbance injection system are augmented to the robot platform to replicate natural terrains and push forces that can be used to evaluate legged locomotion in practical and adversarial scenarios. We demonstrate the functionalities of this platform by realizing an adaptive step-to-step dynamics based walking controller to achieve dynamic walking. Our work with the open-soured implementation shows that STRIDE is a highly versatile and durable platform that can be used in research and education to evaluate locomotion algorithms, mechanical designs, and robust and adaptative controls.
Paper Structure (17 sections, 14 equations, 8 figures)

This paper contains 17 sections, 14 equations, 8 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. System Design
  3. Mechanical Components
  4. Electronic Components
  5. Software
  6. Modularity and Customization
  7. Control Implementation example
  8. Hybrid Linear Inverted Pendulum Model
  9. Adaptive Step-to-step Dynamics
  10. Gait Design and Stepping on STRIDE
  11. Joint-level Controller Design
  12. System Demonstrations
  13. Rigid Ground Walking
  14. Walking over Modular Challenging Soft Terrain
  15. Quantitative Disturbance Injection
  16. ...and 2 more sections

Figures (8)

  • Figure 1: Open-source robot STRIDE.
  • Figure 2: (a) Mechanical design of STRIDE. (b) System setup with rough terrains and disturbance injection system. (c) Demonstration of modularity and easy customization.
  • Figure 3: (a) Electrical components and wiring topology. (b) Software architecture, in which the ROS2 controller node can be customized by the user.
  • Figure 4: Structure of the walking controller Implementation based on S2S dynamics.
  • Figure 5: Stable walking with output tracking results.
  • ...and 3 more figures