Development of an Omnidirectional Kick for a NAO Humanoid Robot

This paper proposes a method to develop an omnidirectional kick behavior for a humanoid robot. The objective is to provide a humanoid with the ability to kick in different directions and to make kicks look more like those of a human player. This method uses a Path Planning module to create the trajectory that the foot must follow to propel the ball in the intended direction. Two additional modules are required when performing the movement: the Inverse Kinematics module computes the value of the joints to place the foot at a given position and the Stability module is responsible for the robot’s stability. Simulation tests were performed using different ball positions, relative to the robot's orientation, and for various ball directions. The obtained results show the usefulness of the approach since the behavior performs accurately the intended motion and is able to kick the ball in all the desired directions.