EPA-Hopper II Trifecta Experiments: Efficiency, Robustness and Agility

Murcia i Matute, Marc; Mohseni, Omid

Open Access

EPA-Hopper II Trifecta Experiments: Efficiency, Robustness and Agility

Files

Data.zip (3 GB)

Date

2026-03-20

Type

Dataset
Software
Text

Authors

Murcia i Matute, Marc
Mohseni, Omid

Description

This dataset contains the data of two experiments conducted at Lauflabor using the EPA-Hopper II. The experiments designed and conducted to investigate how mono- and biarticular muscles - Soleus (SOL) and Gastrocnemius (GAS) influence the locomotion trifecta of efficiency, robustness, and agility in hopping. These two experiments were conducted with fifteen distinct morphological configurations, comprising combinations of the two PAMs across four pressure levels (0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 MPa), with 0MPa representing a non-active muscle. To assess efficiency and robustness, the EPA-Hopper II executed 15 consecutive hops on a 15 cm wooden block. The block was then removed during the flight phase to induce unexpected ground-drop perturbations, and the sequence was repeated for an additional 15 hops. Each condition was repeated two times and was conducted at two hopping frequencies (2.3 and 3 Hz). Throughout these experiments, a constant hybrid control architecture was employed, providing a fair framework to explore the effects of different muscle configurations on hopping. To investigate the robot's agility, an explosive squat-jump experiment was conducted. The protocol began with the robot in a standing posture with a flexed knee (95 deg) and aligned hip and toe. A unique trapezoidal input signal was then applied to the knee motor to generate a rapid vertical motion in different configurations. The signal consisted of a rapid increase to a maximum knee extension torque, a brief hold at this level, and an abrupt reduction to zero at take-off. This dataset consist of: - The "Efficiency & Robustness" experiments, in which, the "Raw Data" (which consist on the sensors data in a .mat file, as well as the Qualisys data of the robot markers), the "Processed Trials", and the average "Processed Configurations" are provided. - The "Agility" experiments with the "Raw Data" (which consist on the sensors data in a .mat file, as well as the Qualisys data of the robot markers), as well as the process data in the matlab data file "Agility_process_data". - The "Contour Plots" folder consist of a ready to play code that plots the three different metrics (Efficiency, Robustness and Agility), as well as the trade-off mapping.