Contact-cycle design for omnidirectional seated locomotion

Determine appropriate contact cycles for omnidirectional seated locomotion to support analytical gait generation beyond standing locomotion.

Background

Analytical gait generators such as central pattern generators have primarily been developed for standing locomotion. The paper identifies the contact coordination required for omnidirectional seated locomotion on a passive mobile chair as unresolved, because the task combines intermittent foot–floor propulsion with maintenance of unfixed pelvis–seat contact. Establishing appropriate contact cycles could support analytical gait-generation methods for this seated locomotion setting, which the paper instead addresses through reinforcement learning.

References

Analytical gait generators such as CPGs have primarily addressed standing locomotion, and appropriate contact cycles for omnidirectional seated locomotion remain unclear.

— Stay Seated: Learning Omnidirectional Humanoid Locomotion on a Passive Mobile Chair with Casters  (2608.28090 - Yanagida et al., 28 Aug 2026) in Section 2, subsection “Reference-Based Humanoid Locomotion Learning”