# Stability Analysis and Design of Momentum-based Controllers for Humanoid Robots

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1603.04178 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1603.04178/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 14 Mar 2016.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [On the Emergence of Whole-body Strategies from Humanoid Robot Push-recovery Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.14534/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Envisioned applications for humanoid robots call for the design of balancing and walking controllers. While promising results have been recently achieved, robust and reliable controllers are still a challenge for the control community dealing with humanoid robotics. Momentum-based strategies have proven their effectiveness for controlling humanoids balancing, but the stability analysis of these controllers is still missing. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we numerically show that the application of state-of-the-art momentum-based control strategies may lead to unstable zero dynamics. Secondly, we propose simple modifications to the control architecture that avoid instabilities at the zero-dynamics level. Asymptotic stability of the closed loop system is shown by means of a Lyapunov analysis on the linearized system's joint space. The theoretical results are validated with both simulations and experiments on the iCub humanoid robot.