Stable Hopping

Stable hopping in robotics and related fields focuses on developing control strategies that enable robots to reliably execute hopping gaits, maintaining balance and stability across various terrains and conditions. Current research emphasizes the development of robust controllers, often employing nonlinear models and optimization techniques like model predictive control and reinforcement learning, to achieve efficient and agile hopping, even with underactuated systems and on deformable surfaces. These advancements have implications for improving legged robot locomotion in challenging environments and also offer novel approaches to gravity field estimation for planetary science missions using hopping probes.