Experimental Bipedal Robotics and Control
Georgia Tech VIP Team
About
Develop a modular planar bipedal robot testbed to enable rapid experimental evaluation of hybrid system control and legged locomotion algorithms. Design and implement hardware, sensing, and real-time control infrastructure that supports repeatable walking experiments, terrain variation, and controller benchmarking. Extend the platform to a three-dimensional biped with a high-fidelity MuJoCo simulation environment, integrated data logging, visualization, and model identification tools. Establish a robust experimental pipeline for validating controllers across simulation and hardware, with the long-term goal of enabling open-access testing of bipedal robots through integration with the Georgia Tech Robotarium. Bipedal locomotion has seen impressive advances, yet translating controllers from theory and simulation to robust, reproducible hardware remains challenging. Existing bipeds are often complex, specialized, or expensive, limiting opportunities for rapid experimentation, comparative evaluation of novel control strategies, and student engagement. This project addresses these gaps by developing a modular planar biped platform with high-fidelity simulation, data logging, and visualization tools, providing a controlled, accessible environment for exploring hybrid-system control, trajectory optimization, and dynamic walking behaviors. Technologically, the project tackles mechanical robustness, flexible sensing and actuation, and reliable power infrastructure, alongside real-time control pipelines and integrated software tools that support reproducible experiments. The platform will evolve to a 3D biped with terrain variability, enabling more advanced locomotion experiments, while simulation ensures repeatable testing and model validation. Beyond technical challenges, the team will produce well-documented hardware, software, and protocols that support research reproducibility and potential open-access experimentation through the Georgia Tech Robotarium. By creating a reliable, extensible testbed, this project bridges theory and hardware, enabling the lab and future VIP teams to test novel controllers efficiently while providing students with meaningful, hands-on contributions to experimental legged robotics.
Majors
Industrial Design, Bioengineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
How to apply
Visit the official page to apply or learn more.