# The Kinetics Observer: A Tightly Coupled Estimator for Legged Robots

Source: [The Kinetics Observer: A Tightly Coupled Estimator for Legged Robots](<https://www.sota2.com/research/paper/68fa73bd1e209131cea5e2fa>)

Collection index: [llms.txt](<https://www.sota2.com/research/llms.txt>)

Data updated: 2025-10-26T02:56:12.281Z

Authors: Arnaud Demont, Mehdi Benallegue, Abdelaziz Benallegue, Pierre Gergondet, Antonin Dallard, Rafael Cisneros, Masaki Murooka, Fumio Kanehiro

Published: 2024-06-19T06:57:06.000Z

## Abstract

In this paper, we propose the "Kinetics Observer", a novel estimator addressing the challenge of state estimation for legged robots using proprioceptive sensors (encoders, IMU and force/torque sensors). Based on a Multiplicative Extended Kalman Filter, the Kinetics Observer allows the real-time simultaneous estimation of contact and perturbation forces, and of the robot's kinematics, which are accurate enough to perform proprioceptive odometry. Thanks to a visco-elastic model of the contacts linking their kinematics to the ones of the centroid of the robot, the Kinetics Observer ensures a tight coupling between the whole-body kinematics and dynamics of the robot. This coupling entails a redundancy of the measurements that enhances the robustness and the accuracy of the estimation. This estimator was tested on two humanoid robots performing long distance walking on even terrain and non-coplanar multi-contact locomotion.

## Recorded benchmark results

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## Original sources and implementation

[Original paper](<https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.13267>)

[PDF](<https://arxiv.org/pdf/2406.13267.pdf>)