Our early experiments, shown in our application video for the 2015 ICRA DARwIn-OP Humanoid Application Challenge, used mainly static, pre-programmed motions. These experiments were intended to see if the robot's skis would work at all for simple gliding, steering, and braking tasks. Unfortunately static motions are limited in their abilities and cannot be easily adjusted for different circumstances.
The solution was to develop software to allow the robot to actively control the angles of its skis, ensuring that the skis remain in contact with the hill, but also keeping the robot's torso upright to prevent falling over.
The development of active balancing software paves the way for our next challenge: actively controlling the robot's steering, letting it carve left and right as it goes down the hill.