About dynamic walking

What is Dynamic Walking?

There is no exact definition, but dynamic walking refers to an approach that emphasizes the passive dynamics of the legs, and generally avoids the use of high-gain control or complicated analysis. Researchers in Dynamic Walking also generally try to minimize the use of jargon. However, for the purposes of brevity, the jargon of nonlinear systems is helpful to list useful constructs: limit cycles, poincare maps, and floquet multipliers. Dynamic walking builds on the work of it’s founding father Tad McGeer, who built the first physical passive dynamic walking machine (click here for a large but interesting movie of it).

Why a meeting of its own?

Over the last years, dynamic walking has received a lot of interest in the general biomechanics and robotics communities. The existing research meeting infrastructure provides valuable forums for presenting the successful application of Dynamic Walking. However, Dynamic Walking remains outside of the mainstream, and there is a rarely a critical mass of its advocates at a conventional conference. Moreover, most meetings attract either biomechanists, kinesiologists, roboticists, neurophysiologists, computer scientists etc. but they do not assemble researchers from these different fields with a common interest in dynamic walking. The dynamic walking meeting provides a forum for these researchers to interact, learn from and get inspired by each other’s knowledge. The dynamic walking meeting follows up on four previous very successful meetings:

Why is the Dynamic Walking meeting different from typical conferences?

The aim of dynamic walking meeting is to provide as much interaction between participants as possible. This is done with a highly informal and fluid format, to promote open sharing of information. A lot of time will be scheduled for interaction, brainstorming and idea sharing, interesting discussions not clipped for time. All participants will be staying in the same location, which will allow even more discussions ‘over beer’.

More information

More info on dynamic walking can be found in the following basic dynamic walking websites and papers:

These technical reports by Tad McGeer pre-date the journal articles on dynamic walking and running:

More frequently asked questions

I do not study Dynamic Walking. Can I still present my own research?

We welcome interested researchers who use any method or approach and who come from any field, but share an interest in Dynamic Walking. Participants who perform any kind of research on locomotion but do not yet apply the principles of Dynamic Walking are invited to submit abstracts for the Poster Session, which will help to introduce their work to others. These posters need not constitute new, unpublished work, and participants may elect to recycle previous posters. Of particular interest are new or emerging applications of Dynamic Walking, or biological studies that could potentially be complemented by Dynamic Walking models.

What disciplines are represented?

Any that find Dynamic Walking relevant, including robotics, biomechanics, kinesiology, computer science, neurophysiology, integrative biology, exercise physiology, and applied mechanics. Dynamic Walking originated from engineering, but the principles are remarkably simple and accessible. Simplicity also means that insights gained are often intuitive and can be clearly delineated. Every field has its jargon, but practitioners of Dynamic Walking principles have developed a culture that minimizes jargon and emphasizes clarity.

Is ZMP not dynamic?

ZMP (short for Zero Moment Point) is perhaps the most successful mainstream method for controlling robot locomotion. ZMP certainly involves dynamics, and if work with these robots leads to insights in the principles of legged locomotion, it certainly falls within the scope of the meeting.

How about running?

Dynamic Walking is first and foremost about the role of dynamics in legged locomotion, not necessarily about walking in particular. Very similar principles can apply to running and other gaits, and the term Dynamic Walking is intended to be concise, if imperfectly narrow. Participants with expertise in running and interest in the shared principles of walking and running are welcome.