Bioinspired Legged Locomotion

Dr. Maziar A. Sharbafi is an interdisciplinary researcher specializing in bioinspired locomotion, biomechanics, and human-centered robotics. He is currently the Head of the Locomotion Control Assistance Group at the Institute for Control and Cyber‑Physical Systems (CCPS) within the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at TU Darmstadt, where he is also affiliated with the Lauflabor Locomotion Laboratory.Dr. Sharbafi earned his B.Sc. degree from Sharif University of Technology in 2003 and completed both his M.Sc. (2006) and Ph.D. (2013) in Control Engineering at the University of Tehran. Driven by a strong interest in human movement and biomechanics, he later obtained a second Ph.D. in Biomechanics from TU Darmstadt in 2017.Before joining TU Darmstadt, he served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Tehran and was a Guest Researcher at TU Darmstadt. Between 2022 and 2024, he acted as the Scientific Coordinator of the European doctoral network LokoAssist. He is currently a Principal Investigator in several nationally and internationally funded research projects, including EPA‑2, LokoAssist, and BYouTrain, and leads a work package within the WhiteBox project. A Senior IEEE Member with more than 90 peer‑reviewed publications, Dr. Sharbafi’s research focuses on bioinspired control, postural stability, and nonlinear dynamics applied to legged robots, prostheses, and exoskeletons, advancing assistive technologies that enhance human mobility and independence. André Seyfarth is full professor for Sports Biomechanics at the Department of Human Sciences of TU Darmstadt and head of the Lauflabor Locomotion Laboratory. After his studies in physics and his PhD in the field of biomechanics he went as a DFG “Emmy Noether” fellow to the MIT LegLab (Prof. Herr, USA) and the ParaLab at the university hospital Balgrist in Zurich (Prof. Dietz, Switzerland). His research topics include sport science, human and animal biomechanics and legged robots. Prof. Seyfarth was the organizer of the Dynamic Walking 2011 conference („Principles and concepts of legged locomotion“) and the AMAM 2013 conference (“Adaptive Motions in Animals and Machines”).

• 1. IntroductionPart I : Concepts2. Fundamental sub-functions of locomotion3. Conceptual models for locomotionPart II: Control4. Control of motion and compliance5. Torque control in legged locomotion6. Neuromuscular control in locomotionPart III: Implementation7. Legged robots with bio-inspired morphology8. Actuation in legged locomotion9. Conclusions and outlook (How far are we from Nature?)