Characterization of monoped equilibrium gaits

We characterize equilibrium gaits of a small knee monoped in terms of manifest parameters by recourse to approximate closed form expressions. We first eliminate gravity during stance and choose a very special model of potential energy storage in the knee. Next, we introduce simple closed form approximations, motivated by the mean value theorem, to the elliptic integrals arising in the more general case. In so doing, we derive a conjectured generalization applicable to small knee monopeds with an arbitrary knee potential. Finally, we introduce a new closed form perturbation intended to adjust the approximate coordinate transformations to the presence of gravity. Simulation data is offered as evidence for the efficacy (to within roughly 5-10% accuracy) of both the proposed generalization across knee potentials and the proposed perturbation for the presence of gravity during stance.