For my optional undergrad thesis at the University of Manitoba I created a miniature 3D printed version of IHMC's planar elliptical fastrunner with an accompanying Matlab simulation. My version of the biped had a fixed gait with legs that were always 180 deg out of phase from each other, rigidly connected to a crankshaft and powered by a belt that is directly driven by an off board motor. The idea for the project was to use simulation to investigate the effects of the passive dynamic elements of the feet as well as the optimal stepping frequency that would allow this fixed planner runner to achieve max speed, then to validate the numerical results on hardware.
Unfortunately due to a host of manufacturing issues and time constraints my runner was never able to take more than a few steps before the belt would slip along with other mechanical failures. Although I was not able to achieve all of my original goals, this project was an incredibly important and formative experience as it was not only my first foray into research but legged locomotion as well.
It was a great experience for which I owe many thanks to my thesis advisor Dr. Sean O'Brien
Robot design based on the IHMC planar elliptical runner
MATLAB/Simulink simulation for experimentation of periodic gait frequency and passive dynamic elements