Abstract One of the major challenges in computer animation is manipulating models of articulated bodies such as robots and animals. A number of techniques have been developed for the animation of human figures. These techniques include digitizing movement, developing kinematic models of motion, and the dynamic analysis of motion.
Dynamic analysis has several advantages over other approaches.
Given forces and torques acting on a body, dynamic analysis provides the various accelerations that parts of the body undergo. Since it is based on well-known techniques in physics and robotics, it has the potential to produce very realistic motion. In this talk, I will give a summary of the research going on in the field of human body simulation followed by our own work with some preliminary results. External disturbance acting on the body other than foothold is also considered, by regarding it as an external force provided by a haptic interface device. Also, in order to achieve high adaptability for a walking robot in an unstructured environment, stable walking is achieved by using a hierarchical control scheme.