Maximum Impulse Approach to Soccer Kicking for Humanoid Robots

TL;DR

This paper presents an analytic, constraint-aware method for generating stable, physically feasible soccer kicks for humanoid robots, integrating with gait control and validated through simulation and real-world experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel parametric kick generation approach based on equations of motion, adaptable to robot stability constraints and integrated with gait control.

Findings

Successfully implemented on NimbRo-OP2X robot

Achieved stable and feasible kicks in simulation and real tests

Enhanced robot soccer performance with the new kicking method

Abstract

We introduce an analytic method for generating a parametric and constraint-aware kick for humanoid robots. The kick is split into four phases with trajectories stemming from equations of motion with constant acceleration. To make the motion execution physically feasible, the kick duration alters the step frequency. The generated kicks seamlessly integrate within a ZMP-based gait, benefitting from the stability provided by the built-in controls. The whole approach has been evaluated in simulation and on a real NimbRo-OP2X humanoid robot.