ADVANCED ROBOTICS, 2018

VOL. 32, NO. 4, 202–214

https://doi.org/10.1080/01691864.2018.1434015

FULL PAPER

Constructive understanding and reproduction of functions of gluteus medius by

using a musculoskeletal walking robot
Hirofumi Shin, Shuhei Ikemoto and Koh Hosoda
Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Several factors affect the performance of humanoid walking. One factor is the complex nature of Received 17 November
lower limbs, especially the muscles around the pelvis that contribute significantly to the stability and 2017
adaptivity of humanoid locomotion. The significance of this muscle group assures a impact on the Accepted 6 January 2018
facility of walking robots once the nature of its contribution is understood, and it can be replicated on KEYWORDS
robots. To propose a mechanical structure that facilitates walking in robots, we realized a muscle by Pelvis structure; gluteus
modeling its pelvis region like that of a humanoid and developing a musculoskeletal humanoid robot. medius; three-dimensional
Especially, we focused on the gluteus medius, which is important for the general stability against biped walking; humanoid
frontal movements of the hip. Furthermore, it passively changes its influence on such motions; this robot; McKibben
is helpful during the different phases of locomotion. These changes depend on the alignment of the pneumatic artificial muscle
pelvis and femur. We confirmed the viability of the robotic gluteus medius, which was simplified to
a model of two partial muscles by accomplishing the walking using this robot. This accomplishment
verifies our hypothesis that using this model, the supporting functionality for the locomotion of the
muscle can be reproduced and enhances the biological plausibility.

1. Introduction muscular functions, muscles are often simplified to a

model that generates force in a single direction. How-
The reproduction of the abilities and skills of humans
ever, the flat-shaped muscles affect the hip joint in a
is one of the major subjects in robotics. One approach
more complex manner than a single direct force [4,5].
to achieve this goal is found in biomimetics, in which
For utilizing this trait, the complexity of the flat-shaped
the main focus is on the body structure and movement
muscles needed to be reduced. This was achieved by
patterns inspired by their biological counterparts [1,2]. In
considering the muscles function, and by approximating
this approach, it is considered that the complex and flex-
their multidirectional force through a set of regular single
ible body structure of humans contributes greatly to the
direct force muscles [5].
stability and adaptability of the humanoid locomotion.
By following this approach, it is possible to reproduce
Based on this approach, researchers tried to reproduce
the positive but complex effects of the flat-shaped mus-
stable and adaptive walking of a human through robots
cles. In addition, studies have proposed simplification
using biomechanic techniques.
methods of reproducing the multidirectional force of the
Previous experiments in the field of biomechanics re-
flat-shaped muscle by combining several actuators, or
vealed that muscles around the pelvis greatly affect the
developing more complex actuators to mimic those prop-
stability and/or adaptability of walking [3,4]. Beck et al.
erties [6,7]. Studies have also considered these muscles
showed that a muscle contributes to the stabilizing of
in different robots but none of them considered how the
the head of the femur in the acetabulum [3]. Stern et
muscles affect the hip joint during locomotion. Naturally,
al. found that a muscle contributes to the frontal plane
it is desirable to develop a robot by considering how the
movement by participating in the control of lateral stabil-
flat-shaped muscles affect the hip so that robots can be
ity of the trunk during locomotion [4]. The muscles that
used to reproduce the positive effect of these muscles
greatly affect the controlling stabilities of walking are flat-
during locomotion.
shaped; this is what distinguishes them from the other Therefore, in this paper, a mechanical structure that
muscles in the lower limbs. By considering this, it was facilitates walking in robots is proposed by explaining the
assumed that this muscle form, combined with the body effectiveness of its body structure, and showing experi-
morphology, facilitates the structural stability and/or ments of a real robot with a human-like musculoskele-
adaptability of walking. In relevant literature concerning tal structure. In particular, we focused on the gluteus

CONTACT Hirofumi Shin hirofumi.shin@arl.sys.es.osaka-u.ac.jp

© 2018 Taylor & Francis and The Robotics Society of Japan

Figure 1. Musculoskeletal robot with human-like pelvis structure.
medius, which mainly affects the frontal plane movement
of the leg because of the high degree of stability this
muscle introduces while walking [8]. Through a fan-
shaped structure of the gluteus medius, the muscle not
only affects the sagittal plane movement of the leg, but
also its frontal and transversal plane movements as part
of an agonist antagonist set of muscles. Therefore, we
hypothesize that the gluteus medius passively realizes two
contradicting functions: being stiff to support the pelvis
for standing, and being smooth for swinging. During the
walking experiments of a developed robot (Figure 1), it
is revealed that the functions are achieved by the robotic
gluteus medius; these were simplified to a model of two
partial muscles.
In Section 2, we discuss the function of the gluteus
medius during locomotion, explain the muscle affects
while walking, and show its simple model. Section 3
explains the mechanical structure of the robot and sys-
tem of reproducing the human-like hip joint and model.
Section 4 presents the experimental results that verify the
function of the model during robotic walking. Finally, in
Section 5, we discuss our findings and provide an outlook
on its impact.
ADVANCED ROBOTICS 203
2. Hypothesis and models of the gluteus medius
The gluteus medius is a hip abductor muscle that mainly
contributes not only to the frontal plane movement (ab-
ductor), but also to its balance and prevents the pelvis
from inclining to the swing leg during walking. In ad-
dition, the gluteus medius is known as an important
muscle for providing stability during walking because the
muscle contraction ensures sufficient clearance from the
ground to the foot [8]. Although this muscle is important
for the lateral balance, it is also known to contribute to
the sagittal plane movement of the support leg [9] and
various effects to the sagittal plane movement of the hip
joint [5,10].
It is thought that such multidirectional influences are
due to the structure of the gluteus medius that spreads
to a plane. The muscle has a fan-shaped structure, and is
attached to the lateral surface of the greater trochanter of
the femur and the gluteal surface of ilium. This muscle
is known to behave as an agonist and antagonist in the
frontal and transverse planes, with the abduction action,
despite it being a single muscle [11]. Consequently, its ef-
fects are not only the abduction of the joint due to muscle
contraction but also the increase of the joint stiffness due
to other movements.
Considering that the moment arms are changed by
angular variation of the hip joint, the effect of the gluteus
medius during walking is assumed to change passively
depending on its angles. For the sake of simplicity, we
focus on how the changes in the flexion/extension angle
of the hip joint affects its abduction/adduction movement
(Figure 2). The gluteus medius is known to be attached
to the femur below the center of the rotation axis of the
hip joint on the sagittal plane when a human takes an
upright posture [12]. In addition, the distance between
two points varies depending on the muscle’s angle of
abduction/adduction [13]. Here, the distance is larger
between two points for a large adduction angle of the
hip joint (Figure 2). In this case, the flexion/extension
moment arm of the gluteus medius increases. Therefore,
it affects the frontal plane movement and increases the
stiffness in the sagittal plane movement. In contrast, when
the hip joint is abducted (Figure 2, lower), the distance
between two positions decreases. Therefore, the moment
arm in the sagittal plane movement is reduced, and thus
the influence in the sagittal plane movement is reduced;
the frontal plane movement is mainly affected. In other
words, owing to the characteristic structure and changes
in the abduction/adduction angle of the hip joint, it is
assumed that the effects of the gluteus medius to the hip
joint are changed passively, that is, the gluteus medius
affects only the abduction motion or affects it with in-
creasing stiffness of other directions.
204 H. SHIN ET AL.

Figure 2. Relationship between the rotation center of femoral flexion/extension and insertion point of two partial muscles in the gluteus
medius. When the hip joint is adducted, the moment arm of the gluteus medius for the flexion/extension motion increases (blue arrow)
because the distance between the rotation axis and insertion point increases (gray arrow). When the hip joint is abducted, an opposite
trend is observed.

There is some possibility that the function works for
facilitating human walking. During the support phase,
the leg must strongly support the upper body in the
frontal and sagittal planes. However, during the swing
phase, it is necessary to make the leg move smoothly
for a stable walk. During walking, the legs must be ap-
propriately controlled in the swinging phase because the
influence of the ground surface of the foot on the stabil-
ity of walking is significant [14]. Actually, the gluteus
medius plays an important role in the control of the
lateral placement of the foot. The lateral placement is
known to be adjusted by controlling the gluteus medius
[15]. If this muscle contributes to the lateral support
and works to increase the flexion/extension stiffness, it is
difficult to control the lateral foot placement because it is
affected by movements of other muscles and disturbances
applied to the leg during walking. During the stance
phase, the femur is adducted from the beginning of the
stance phase, when the support weight of the stance leg
is increased, to the end of the stance phase. In contrast,
during the swing phase of walking, the femur is abducted
because it is not needed to support the body and for
the leg to increase the clearance of the ground and the
foot [16,17]. Based on this fact and the above-mentioned
function, there is a possibility that the gluteus medius
has the following functions that structurally facilitate hu-
man walking: The muscle increases the flexion/extension
stiffness and contributes to the lateral support of hip
 ADVANCED ROBOTICS 205

because the muscle affects multiple directions during the

support phase when hip joint stiffness is required, and
it affects only lateral movement (abduction/adduction)
during the swing phase when it is not needed for the flex-
ion/extension movement because of its controllability.
To reproduce the functions that the gluteus medius
possibly has, it is necessary to consider a simple model
that can be used in robots. Structures like the gluteus
medius were reproduced by a simplified linear structure
in previous research of robotics [18,19]. It is possible
to use the structure as an agonist muscle which moves Figure 3. Coordinate system of the simulation with the origin at
a joint in a robot. However, it is not possible that the the ball joint center of the hip joint and definitions of Pa, P p , and
structure has this effect with the previously described ag- Pi . The Po , Pi , Pa, and P p represent the origin point of muscle,
onist/antagonist effect of the fan-shaped structure which insertion point of muscle, the anterior part, and posterior part of
can adjust stiffness. To reproduce the function of gluteus the model, respectively. The extension and abduction angles are
φ and θ , respectively.
medius, we focused on the models of the gluteus medius
that have been used in previous research of biomechanics.
The gluteus medius is often measured by dividing it into of the muscle p i are given by the following equation using
several parts [20,21] because it is known that its innerva- the rotation matrix:
tion as a muscle is dominated by multiple nerves that are
the anterior, middle, and posterior part [5]. In general, p i = Re Ra p¯i (1)
models consisting of three parts have been proposed [22].
However, it is possible to divide it into two groups, i.e. where p¯i indicates the initial position of the insertion
the anterior and a posterior, when the function given to point, and where θ and φ are 0. The muscle elongation
a joint is considered [23], because the muscle has several Lθφ is given as follows when the attachment position of
moment arms that are spread to the anterior and the the anterior and posterior parts is defined by p o .
posterior part [13]. Furthermore, it is known that the
middle and the anterior parts are moved synchronously Lθφ = ∥ p i − p o ∥. (2)
during walking [24]. Hence, the functions of the gluteus
medius are often discussed by dividing into two parts,
Using the muscle elongation Lθφ , the muscle’s tension
which the anterior and a posterior parts [25]. Based on the
can be calculated. For the sake of simplicity, we consid-
simple model consisting of these two parts of the gluteus
ered that the muscle has a linear spring constant, and the
medius, it is imagined easily that the muscle behaves
natural length condition is φ = 0[deg] in each condition
as an agonist and antagonist in the frontal plane when
of K (Lθφ - Lθ 0 ). The scalar of tension when φ is changed
the extension/flexion angle of the femur is changed. In
in each condition is given by K (Lθφ - Lθ 0 ). As the unit
this paper, we show how each joint moment is changed
vector of tension ranges from p i to p o , the vector of
depending on the hip joint angle with the help of the
tension is given as follows:
simulation models.
p0 − pi
F = K(Lθφ − Lθ 0 ) . (3)
2.1. Simulation ∥ p 0 − p i∥

We analyzed the moment of the femur exerted by the In addition, the moment arms of the muscle are changed
anterior and posterior parts of the gluteus medius based depending on the hip angle. Therefore, the moment arm
on a simple kinematic model. Figure 3 defines the r is given as follows:
coordinate system with the origin at the ball joint
center of the hip joint. Here, θ and φ indicate the fem- p i · ( p o − p i)
r = pi − ( p o − p i ). (4)
oral adduction/abduction and flexion/extension angles, ∥ p o − p i ∥2
respectively. Ra and Re are the rotation matrices
corresponding to the adduction/abduction and flexion/ According to these equations, moment τ generated by
extension angles, respectively. Here, the adduction/ several fibers of the gluteus medius is calculated by the
abduction and flexion/extension angles indicate the angle following equation:
change on the sagittal and frontal planes, respectively.
The three-dimensional attachment points on the femur τ = r × F. (5)
206 H. SHIN ET AL.

Figure 4. Femoral moment while the hip joint moves. Note that the φ-component of the moment responds to changes in the femoral
adduction/abduction φ for each θ . Therefore, the first figure shows that a moment which the leg returns to φ = 0 and the second figure
shows the moment which the leg moves to negative direction of θ The lines to which arrows are added arrows show trajectories during
walking. The gray line, the dashed line, and the white line show a trajectory during single-stance phase, swing phase, and double-stance
phase, respectively, which trajectories are reported by Arnold et al. [26]. The result of the first figure shows that the moment, when
φ = 0, becomes large during the stance phase, although it becomes small during swing phase. In addition, the second figure shows
that the moment which the leg moves to negative direction of θ becomes large during stance phase, but it becomes small during swing
phase.

Here, several attachment points are set based on
anatomical research [12,13]. The attachment points of
the anterior and posterior parts of the gluteus medius are
p o = p a = [65, − 40, 100]T and p o = p p = [− 50, 50,
100]T . Here, the attachment point on the femur has
spread to the sagittal plane [11], and the moment arm
of the gluteus medius in humans is often represented as
multiple moment arms for flexion and extension [13].
Therefore, we defined the attachment point of the glu-
teus medius on the femur as p i = [75, 0, − 25]T , show-
ing multiple moment arms for flexion and extension.
Using these conditions, changes in τ of these fibers in
response to changes in the adduction/abduction and flex-
ion/extension angles were analyzed numerically. Note
that the muscle can generate a pulling force but not
a pushing force, as we are considering human muscle.
Here, the unit of coordination is a millimeter, and the
spring constant is K = 1 N/m, and it of τ is N m.
2.2. Results and discussion
Figure 4 shows the moment of the gluteus medius when
φ is changed in each θ. Figure 4(a) shows the φ mo-
ment, which is for the flexion/extension movement, and
Figure 4(b) shows the θ moment, which is for the ab-
duction/adduction movement. The results show that an
increase in the adduction angle when the flexion angle
is constant (θ is increased when φ is constant) leads to
the increase in the moment of φ (Figure 4(a)). When
the adduction angle becomes large, the results indicate
that the absolute value of the moment where the thigh

returns to the non-flexion/non-extension position (φ =
0) increases. Conversely, when the adduction angle de-
creases, the absolute value of the moment shows the
opposite trend. Similarly, in Figure 4(b), when the adduc-
tion angle increases, the abduction moment increases,
depending on how far the angel is distant from φ =
0. Conversely, when the adduction angle decreases, an
opposite trend is observed. Although we assumed that the
muscle can be represented by a linear spring constant in
the simple kinematic model for the sake of simplicity, the
same can still be considered if monotonically increasing
spring constants are assumed for muscles found in the
human body [27].
Here, we focus on the moment of the hip joint during
human walking. The curved arrow lines of each figure in
Figure 4 show a trajectory angle of the hip joint during hu-
man walking. The hip joint is abducted during the swing
stance phase and is adducted during the stance phase.
Therefore, each figure shows that the changes in the
moment when the φ is changes are large during the stance
phase (gray-dashed arrow) and they are small during the
swing phase (gray arrow). To consider our hypothesis, we
focused on the trajectory of Figure 4(a). The figure shows
that the gluteus medius has a large moment for the non-
flexion and non-extension positions(φ = 0) during the
stance phase and the moment becomes small during the
swing phase. The fact indicates that the gluteus medius
is pulled strongly by the sagittal movement during the
stance phase, but the pulled force during the swing phase
become small.
From this result and discussion, it was confirmed that
the gluteus medius model consisting of the two segments
has the function of our hypothesis in simulation. The
model is, however, insufficient because many other mus-
cles and the environment interact and contribute to real-
izing human walking, and the purpose of this research is
reproduction of the function in walking robot. Therefore,
we confirmed that the function can be achieved and re-
produced in a real robot with the simple gluteus medius
model by developing a musculoskeletal humanoid robot
that can walk.
3. Development of bipedal walking robot
Figure 1 shows the appearance of the developed robot.
The robot’s height in the upright position is 1112 mm
and its weight is 11.7 kg. Figure 5 shows the link lengths,
which are designed to have the same ratio as those in hu-
mans [28]. The robot has 12 degrees-of-freedom (DOFs),
which include hip, knee, and ankle joints. Three-DOF
ball joints are used for the hip joint, 2-DOF universal
joints are used for the ankle joint, and the knee joints
are realized by a 1-DOF hinge joint. As actuators in the
ADVANCED ROBOTICS 207
robot, pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are used to
reproduce human-like muscles, which are flexible and
have variable impedance [29]. Note that all sensors and
valves are mounted on the robot, and it can be self-
contained if we use a small CO2 bottle instead of using a
compressor. The muscle structure, and control system of
the robot are explained in following section:
3.1. Arrangement of muscles
The muscle arrangement around the pelvis in humans is
complex, three-dimensional, and redundantly arranged.
A robot that mimics human musculoskeletal structure
must also have this complex and redundant structure.
Thus, we developed a robot that can reproduce it with
a pelvis structure, whose muscle arrangement can be
adjusted three dimensionally (Figure 6). It is possible
to adjust the via point of the muscle in the pelvis and
the insertion and origin points voluntarily because the
pelvis structure can change the angle of the iliac bone,
length of the pubis, and height of the pelvis. Therefore,
the robot can mimic the attachment point of muscles and
the moment arm in human. Figure 6 shows the robot with
a human-like muscle arrangement. In its entire body,
the robot has 34 artificial muscles, and the insertion and
origin points were set according to the knowledge of
human anatomy [12]. The tendon-driven system is used
in muscles around the pelvis because it is needed to
add muscle length for generating a sufficient moment
to walk. McKibben-type PAMs are used as actuators of
the robot. It is possible to measure the muscle state using
the installed pressure and tension sensors in the target
muscle.
The noteworthy point in this muscle arrangement is
how to reproduce muscles with a flat-shaped structure.
Biologically, most of the muscles are defined and simpli-
fied to line with attachment points (parts of muscles are
inserted or originated in bone) that are defined in points.
However, humans have muscles that are not line shape
in the pelvis; these are simplified as planar shaped, and
the attachment part is defined as a line and surface. To
reproduce the muscles that have planar shape, we used
two muscles based on their biological models [5,30,31].
In fact, the gluteus medius and iliacus were separated in
two directions to form a fan-shaped structure, and the
gluteus maximus was separated into two parts to form a
flat-shaped structure (Figure 7).
3.2. Femur structure
The robot also mimicked the structure of the femur,
which consists of a hip joint with a pelvis, and adopted
the neck shaft angle as in a human femur. The moment
208 H. SHIN ET AL.

Figure 5. Arrangement of PAMs in the developed musculoskeletal humanoid robot. The left and right figures show the schematic
arrangement of PAMs and names of human muscles corresponding to each PAM, respectively.

Figure 6. Developed pelvis structure. The red arrows show how the parts of the pelvis structure are moved.

arm of the gluteus medius is considered to be increased
by the greater trochanter, which protrudes to the side
because of the neck shaft angle, and provides a sufficient
moment in the hip for stability of the pelvis during walk-
ing [32]. Therefore, the developed bipedal walking robot
was adopted. Note that the angle of the thigh was set to
125◦ for the neck shaft angle and 170◦ for the quadriceps
angle by referencing those of humans.
3.3. Control system
The robot are adopted a simple control system that mus-
cles are controlled by pressure, and the pressure patterns
are switched by sensing the ground contact of a foot.
Therefore, the architecture has a simple structure con-
sisting of a main controller which controls the whole
command, a local controller which controls the pressure
of muscles, and a local controller which senses the foot
contacts. The whole system is driven at 1 kHz.
To control pneumatic artificial muscles, pressure sen-
sors (PSE530, SMC) and solenoid valves (SYJ3340-6M,
SMC) which supply or exhaust air to the muscles were
directly connected to the muscles. The target pressure of
the muscles was controlled within the value of ± 30 kPa
using an on/off control with the solenoid valve chang-
ing supply and exhaust depending on the value of the

Figure 7. Muscle structure of the pelvis. The left, middle, and right figures show the arrangement of the iliacus, gluteus medius, and
gluteus maximus.
pressure sensor. The patterns of target pressures in each
walking phase are given in order to generate walking
motion. Each walking phase (Swing phase and stance
phase) is switched using a trigger for a sensor attached
to each foot (Single axis force sensor, Tec Gihan).
4. Experimental for verification of function of
the gluteus muscle
We verified the function of our hypothesis using the
developed walking robot with the three-dimensional mus-
culoskeletal structure. The hypothesis was that the func-
tion which the effect of gluteus medius to the hip joint
is changed could be reproduced by a simple model con-
sisting of these two parts of the gluteus medius. In this
experiment, we focused on monoarticular muscles, which
mainly move the hip joint. Furthermore, we compared
the inputted pressures and the tension of the gluteus
medius, which shows the amount of the pulled force, to
confirm the model worked so as to verify the hypothesis.
The experimental setup comprised the walking robot
and the state of each muscle to make robotic walking
possible.
ADVANCED ROBOTICS 209
4.1. Setup of walking experiment
In this experiment, to make the robot walk, we used a
simple feedback control, and the predetermined firing
pattern of the artificial muscle is switched by triggers of
foot contact recognition. The firing patterns of robot,
which are adjusted heuristically based on actual human
firing pattern [17], are set as shown in Figure 8. To easily
observe the gluteus medius, constant target pressures are
given to the muscles affecting adduction and abduction
motions (#11, #15 and #16 in Figure 8) in each walk-
ing phase, and the pressures are only changed when the
walking phase is changed. Target pressures of the muscles
contributing to flexion and extension motions (#13 and
#14 in Figure 8) are always changed according to walking
phase as Figure 8 in order to make frontal motion of
swing and stance. The pressure target value was set from
0 to 650 kPa every 25 kPa. Muscle activation patterns,
which were separated into 10 patterns, were set during the
stance phase from the initial contact to terminal stance
periods. Similarity, the patterns were set during the swing
phase from pre-swing to terminal swing periods. The
patterns are continuously changed. A leg is shifted to
210 H. SHIN ET AL.
Figure 8. Firing patterns of the robot during walking. The ratio of walking phase starts from the stance phase. The shown muscles
are monoarticular muscles which mainly control hip joint. Group #13 and #14 contribute to the flexion and extension movement,
respectively. Group #11 and the groups #15 and #16 contribute to the adduction and abduction movement, respectively. Group #17
contributes to the lateral rotation.
the support phase when the value of the force sensor of
the swing phase recognizes foot contact on the ground.
Each leg executed the command independently. In the
experiment, we first made the robot stand with a single
support leg. Next, we provided an initial velocity for
walking by pushing the robot to make it walk. To compare
the output commands of each muscle and tension sensors
in the gluteus medius, we measured the pressure and
tension information in each muscle. Here, considering
that the muscles are controlled by the supplied pressure
and the muscles generate force because of being driven,
the pressure shows output and the tension shows in-
put.
4.2. Results and discussion
Figure 9(a) shows sequential snapshots of a walking robot
experiment. The walking control, which uses only the
ground contact information of the foot, with a simple
feedback, made the robot walk. Figure 9(b) shows the raw
data values of the tension sensor of the gluteus medius
data during the walking motion. The gluteus medius was
provided firing commands based on the human gluteus
medius; these commands were maximized during the
support phase and reduced during the swing phase, and
it was observed that the tension was decreased and in-
creased during the swing and stance phases, respectively.
To ease the verification of our hypothesis, fixed values
were provided during the swing and stance phases. Here,
the pressure values of the gluteus medius were not stable,
and were slightly changed because of interference with
other muscles, as shown in Figure 10(a) and (b).
We compared the tension and single-joint muscles
contributing to each motion. For muscles of the abduc-
tion/adduction motion, we used the adductor magnus
and gluteus medius. For muscles of the flexion/extension
motion, we used the iliacus and gluteus maximus. The
tension values of the gluteus medius and pressure values
of the single-joint muscles in the sagittal and frontal
plane movement are shown in Figure 10(a) and (b). In
each Figure, the muscle controlling the sagittal (flex-
ion/extension) movement is indicated by the blue line,
and the muscle controlling the frontal (abduction/
adduction) movement is indicated by the red line. The
tension value of the gluteus medius is indicated by a black
line. In the Figure, it seems that the tension of the gluteus
medius and pressure of the flexion/extension muscles are
more similar than the tension of the gluteus medius and
pressure of the abduction/adduction muscles during the
stance phase (Figure 10(a)). In contrast, the tension of the
gluteus medius and pressure of the abduction/adduction
muscles are more similar than the tension of the glu-
teus medius and pressure of the flexion/extension plane
muscles during the swing phase (Figure 10(b)). To in-
vestigate how the gluteus medius is affected by the flex-
ion/extension muscles and abduction/adduction muscles
in each walking phase, we calculated multiple correlation
coefficients between each set of data.
Figure 11 shows the correlation coefficients between
the pressure values of muscles of each direction and the
tension of the gluteus medius. P values of t-test show
that each muscle group gets a low score of significant
differences (the values during swing phase is 0.005 and it
during stance phase 0.006). Therefore, it is possible to say
 ADVANCED ROBOTICS 211

Figure 9. An experimental sequence and tension values of gluteus medius during a walking experiment. The graph of the (b) shows
tension values of the left leg of the robot. The initial contact implies a moment when the swing leg contacts the ground and the phase
of the leg changes to the swing phase.

that the muscles affecting the sagittal (flexion/extension)
movement indicate a high score of the correlation coef-
ficient during the stance phase, whereas the score is low
during the swing phase. Conversely, the muscles affecting
the frontal (abduction/adduction) movement show the
opposite trend. In other words, the gluteus medius has
mainly influence with the flexion/extension muscles dur-
ing the stance phase and with the abduction/adduction
muscles during the swing phase. Considering that the
gluteus medius has a large positive moment arm of ab-
duction during the whole walking period [13], it is easy
to understand that the gluteus medius has an influence
on the frontal (abduction/adduction) movement during
the stance and the swing phase. Therefore, it is possible
to say that during the stance phase, the gluteus medius
affects the sagittal (flexion/extension) and frontal (abduc-
tion/adduction) movements. However, during the swing
phase, it mostly affects the frontal (abduction/adduction)
movement but hardly affects the sagittal (flexion/
extension) movement.
We confirmed that the gluteus medius passively
switches functions, contributing to abduction motion of
hip joint and contributing to the motion and enhancing
stiffness in other directions. We verified that the simple
model of the gluteus medius can facilitate walking in
robots by explaining the effectiveness of its body structure
and through the results of the experiments conducted on
a real robot with human-like musculoskeletal structure.
212 H. SHIN ET AL.

Figure 10. Experimental data during walking experiment of the robot. The graphs show mean values of four walking cycles and their
standard deviations. Tension values of the gluteus medius and pressure values of each single-joint muscle of each walking phase are
shown. The upper graphs of the (a) and (b) show tension values of the gluteus medius during walking. The middle graphs of them show
pressure values of frontal muscles. The lower graphs of them show pressure values of sagittal muscles. Note that the graphs of the stance
phase started at the time of heal contact and of the swing phase started at the time of toe off. In addition, the number of elements of
data is aligned with the minimum number of the elements of the data in the graphs.
 ADVANCED ROBOTICS 213

Figure 11. Correlation coefficients between pressure of each muscle (frontal or sagittal muscles) and the tension of the gluteus medius
during stance and swing phases. Each coefficient in this figure is calculated from the original data of Figure 10(a) and (b). The graphs
of this figure show multiple correlation coefficients of the deferent four walking cycles. Note that the data used for calculating the
coefficients during stance phases are from heal contact of a target to toe off and the data used for calculating the coefficients during
swing phases are from toe off to heal contact. The left graph shows multiple correlation coefficients during stance phases (calculated from
Figure 10(a)). The right graph shows them during swing phase (calculated from Figure 10(b)). The average of the multiple correlation
coefficients between the gluteus medius and the frontal muscle during stance is 0.31. It between the gluteus medius and the sagittal
muscle during stance is 0.72. It between the gluteus medius and the frontal muscle during swing is 0.79. It between the gluteus medius
and the sagittal muscle during swing is 0.37. The results show that the gluteus medius has influence with the sagittal muscles during the
stance phase. However, the gluteus medius does not have not influence with the sagittal muscles during the swing phase. Note that the
frontal and sagittal muscles show abduction/adduction and flexion/extension muscles, respectively.

5. Conclusion
In this study, we focused on how the function provided
by the mechanical properties of the gluteus medius can
be exploited to facilitate walking. To verify this idea, we
explained how the muscle is affected during walking,
and developed a musculoskeletal humanoid robot with
a human-like musculoskeletal structure, in which the
gluteus medius was reproduced as a simple model. Using
experimental approaches, the existence of the aforemen-
tioned function and the availability of this simple model
of the gluteus medius was successfully confirmed.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
This research was supported by ‘Program for Leading Graduate
Schools’ of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Sci-
ence and Technology and Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research
[17J04761] of Japan.
Notes on contributors
Hirofumi Shin received his master degree in Information
Science and Technology from Osaka University, Japan in 2015.
Currently He is a PhD candidate at Graduate School of Engi-
neering Science, Osaka University, and a JSPS Research Fellow
from April 2017. His research interests includes bipedal loco-
motion, morphology and bio-inspired robots.
Shuhei Ikemoto attained his PhD in engineering from Os-
aka University in March 2010. He was a JSPS Research Fel-
low from April 2009 to March 2010, an assistant professor
in Graduate School of Information Science and Technology,
Osaka University from April 2010 to June 2014, and a specially
appointed assistant professor of The Institute for Academic
Initiatives, Osaka University since July 2014 to March 2015.
He is now an assistant professor in the Department of System
Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka
University. His research interests include biologically inspired
robotics/algorithms and physical human-robot interaction.
Koh Hosoda received his PhD degree in Mechanical Engi-
neering from Kyoto University, Japan in 1993. From 1993 to
1997, he was a Research Associate of Mechanical Engineering
Department, Osaka University. From 1997 to 2010, he was an
associate professor of Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka
University. From 2010 to 2014, he was a professor of Graduate
School of Information Science and Technology, Osaka Univer-
sity. From 2014, he has been a professor of Graduate School of
Engineering Science, Osaka University. In the mean time, From
April 1998 to March 1999, he was a guest professor in Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory, University of Zurich. From November
2005 to March 2010, he participated in the JST Asada ERATO
Project as a group leader.
References
[1] Rosendo A, Liu X, Shimizu M, et al. Stretch
reflex improves rolling stability during hopping of a
214 H. SHIN ET AL.
decerebrate biped system. Bioinspiration Biomimetics.
2015;10(1):016008.
[2] Calisti M, Giorelli M, Levy G, et al. An octopus-
bioinspired solution to movement and manipula-
tion for soft robots. Bioinspiration Biomimetics.
2011;6(3):036002.
[3] Beck M, Sledge JB, Gautier E, et al. The anatomy and
function of the gluteus minimus muscle. Bone Joint J.
2000;82(3):358–363.
[4] Stern JT. Anatomical and functional specializations of
the human gluteus maximus. Amer J Phys Anthropol.
1972;36(3):315–339.
[5] Gottschalk F, Kourosh S, Leveau B. The functional
anatomy of tensor fasciae latae and gluteus medius and
minimus. J Anatomy. 1989;166:179.
[6] Kozuki T, Mizoguchi H, Asano Y, et al. Design
methodology for the thorax and shoulder of human
mimetic musculoskeletal humanoid kenshiro – a thorax
structure with rib like surface. In: 2012 IEEE/RSJ
international conference on Intelligent robots and
systems (IROS). Vilamoura: IEEE; 2012. p. 3687–3692.
[7] Kurumaya S, Suzumori K, Nabae H, et al. Musculoskeletal
lower-limb robot driven by multifilament muscles.
Robomech J. 2016;3(1):Article 18 (1–15 pages).
[8] Petrofsky J. The use of electromyogram biofeedback
to reduce trendelenburg gait. Eur J Appl Physiol.
2001;85(5):491–495.
[9] Liu MQ, Anderson FC, Pandy MG, et al. Muscles that
support the body also modulate forward progression
during walking. J Biomech. 2006;39(14):2623–2630.
[10] Liu MQ, Anderson FC, Schwartz MH, et al. Muscle
contributions to support and progression over a range
of walking speeds. J Biomech. 2008;41(15):3243–3252.
[11] Robertson WJ, Gardner MJ, Barker JU, et al. Anatomy
and dimensions of the gluteus medius tendon insertion.
Arthroscopy: J Arthroscopic Relat Surg. 2008;24(2):130–
136.
[12] Dostal WF, Soderberg GL, Andrews JG. Actions of hip
muscles. Phys Therapy. 1986;66(3):351–359.
[13] Blemker SS, Delp SL. Three-dimensional representation
of complex muscle architectures and geometries. Ann
Biomed Eng. 2005;33(5):661–673.
[14] Patla AE. Strategies for dynamic stability during
adaptive human locomotion. IEEE Eng Med Biol Mag.
2003;22(2):48–52.
[15] Rankin BL, Buffo SK, Dean JC. A neuromechanical
strategy for mediolateral foot placement in walking
humans. J Neurophysiol. 2014;112(2):374–383.
[16] Novacheck TF. The biomechanics of running. Gait
Posture. 1998;7(1):77–95.
[17] Vaughan CL, Davis BL, O’connor JC. Dynamics of
human gait. Vol. 24. Champaign (IL): Human Kinetics
Publishers; 1992.
[18] Niiyama R, Nishikawa S, Kuniyoshi Y. Biomechanical
approach to open-loop bipedal running with a
musculoskeletal athlete robot. Adv Rob. 2012;26(3–
4):383–398.
[19] Ogawa K, Narioka K, Hosoda K. Development of
whole-body humanoid ‘pneumat-bs’ with pneumatic
musculoskeletal system. In: 2011 IEEE/RSJ international
conference on Intelligent robots and systems (IROS). San
Francisco (CA): IEEE; 2011. p. 4838–4843.
[20] O’Sullivan K, Smith SM, Sainsbury D. Electromyographic
analysis of the three subdivisions of gluteus medius during
weight-bearing exercises. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehab.
2010;2(1):Article 17 (1–9 pages).
[21] O’Dwyer C, Sainsbury D, O’Sullivan K. Gluteus medius
muscle activation during isometric muscle contractions.
J Sport Rehab. 2011;20(2):174–186.
[22] Soderberg GL, Dostal WF. Electromyographic study of
three parts of the gluteus medius muscle during functional
activities. Phys Therapy. 1978;58(6):691–696.
[23] Delp SL, Hess WE, Hungerford DS, et al. Variation
of rotation moment arms with hip flexion. J Biomech.
1999;32(5):493–501.
[24] Semciw AI, Pizzari T, Murley GS, et al. Gluteus medius: an
intramuscular EMG investigation of anterior, middle and
posterior segments during gait. J Electromyogr Kinesiol.
2013;23(4):858–864.
[25] Arnold AS, Delp SL. Rotational moment arms of
the medial hamstrings and adductors vary with
femoral geometry and limb position: implications for
the treatment of internally rotated gait. J Biomech.
2001;34(4):437–447.
[26] Arnold EM, Delp SL. Fibre operating lengths of human
lower limb muscles during walking. Philos Trans Roy Soc
London B: Biol Sci. 2011;366(1570):1530–1539.
[27] Winter DA. Biomechanics and motor control of human
movement. Wiley; 2009.
[28] Herman IP. Physics of the human body. Springer; 2016.
[29] Klute GK, Czerniecki JM, Hannaford B. McKibben arti-
ficial muscles: pneumatic actuators with biomechanical
intelligence. In: proceedings IEEE/ASME international
conference on Advanced intelligent mechatronics, 1999.
Atlanta (GA): IEEE; 1999;1999:221–226.
[30] Andersson E, Oddsson L, Grundström H, et al. The role of
the psoas and iliacus muscles for stability and movement
of the lumbar spine, pelvis and hip. Scand J Med Sci Sports.
1995;5(1):10–16.
[31] McAndrew D, Gorelick M, Brown J. Muscles within
muscles: a mechanomyographic analysis of muscle
segment contractile properties within human gluteus
maximus. J Musculoskelet Res. 2006;10(01):23–35.
[32] Kapandji A, Kandel MJ, Kapandji I. Physiology of the
joints: lower limb. Vol. 2. Churchill Livingstone; 1988.