Central pattern generator parameter search for a biped walking robot using nonparametric estimation based particle swarm optimization

A parameter search for a Central Pattern Generator (CPG) for biped walking is difficult because there is no methodology to set the parameters and the search space is broad. These characteristics of the parameter search result in numerous fitness evaluations. In this paper, nonparametric estimation based Particle Swarm Optimization (NEPSO) is suggested to effectively search the parameters of CPG. The NEPSO uses a concept experience repository to store a previous position and the fitness of particles in a PSO and estimated best position to accelerate a convergence speed. The proposed method is compared with PSO variants in numerical experiments and is tested in a three dimensional dynamic simulator for bipedal walking. The NEPSO effectively finds CPG parameters that produce a gait of a biped robot. Moreover, NEPSO has a fast convergence property which reduces the evaluation of fitness in a real environment.