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arXiv · 2611.02564

Central pivot point control of a body-attached spring-mass runner: periodic gaits, stabilization, template embedding and approximate analytic return maps

İzel Sever·O. Kaan Karagöz·M. Mert Ankaralı
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Abstract

The spring-loaded inverted pendulum (SLIP) describes the center-of-mass (COM) motion of runners but has no trunk. In trunk models, the hip torque couples posture and COM motion and destroys the central-force structure on which SLIP analysis relies. As a result, trunk models have been studied almost only numerically. We show that this structure can be restored. The central pivot point (CPP), a hip-torque law that directs the ground reaction force through the COM, decouples pitch exactly and reduces stance to a planar central-force problem. At upright posture, time-reversal symmetry produces one-parameter families of periodic gaits. A stance-phase pitch law and a stride-level regulator stabilize all computed gaits, also with bounded hip torque and friction. Under CPP, any radial force law in virtual-leg coordinates can be embedded independently of posture. For a linear radial template, the stance radius and the constant-momentum sweep have exact closed forms. With a new gravity correction, the resulting analytic return map, to our knowledge the first for a trunk model, predicts liftoff velocity and apex position with mean errors of 1.6% and 0.9%. The natural gaits of the embedded runner are symmetric and need no force step at touchdown. A near-reversibility argument explains their unit multiplier, and a scalar equation predicts them within 0.8%. A deadbeat stride controller based on the analytic map tracks changes of speed, height and posture. CPP thus makes trunk models accessible to the analytic tools developed for SLIP.

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İzel Sever, O. Kaan Karagöz, M. Mert Ankaralı. 2026-11-02. Central pivot point control of a body-attached spring-mass runner: periodic gaits, stabilization, template embedding and approximate analytic return maps. https://arxiv.org/abs/2611.02564

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