Patent ID: 7319919

Claim:
An apparatus for controlling a legged mobile robot which is movable by repeating lifting and then landing actions of each of a plurality of legs, comprising: foot landing position/orientation estimating means for estimating a landing position and landing orientation of the foot of each of the legs which is landed in each landing action of the robot; desired path setting means for setting a desired footstep path for the robot; desired foot landing orientation determining means for determining a desired landing orientation of the foot which is landed in at least either one of subsequent landing actions of the robot in order to cause actual footsteps of the robot to approach said desired footstep path based on at least said estimated landing position and landing orientation of the foot and said desired footstep path; desired gait determining means for determining a desired gait for the robot using at least the desired landing orientation determined by said desired foot landing orientation determining means; and operation control means for controlling operation of the robot depending on the determined desired gait.