Determination of robotic step path

A robot comprising:

• feet configured for movement with respect to a surface;
• and
• a control system in communication with the feet and configured to perform operations comprising:
• generating a first potential step path and a second potential step path for the robot;
• generating, by the computing device, a first potential capture point trajectory associated with the first potential step path and a second potential capture point trajectory associated with the second potential step path;
• obtaining, by the computing device, one or more constraints indicative of physical limitations of the robot;
• determining, by the computing device, whether the first potential step path and the second potential step path violates any of the one or more constraints indicative of the physical limitations of the robot;
• obtaining, by the computing device, a reference step path comprising a reference capture point trajectory comprising a set of spatial points on a surface that define respective target touchdown locations for the feet;
• determining, by the computing device, a first error value based on:
• any differences between the reference capture point trajectory of the reference step path and the first potential capture point trajectory associated with the first potential step path;
• and
• whether the first potential step path violates any of the one or more constraints indicative of the physical limitations of the robot;
• determining, by the computing device, a second error value based on:
• any differences between the reference capture point trajectory of the reference step path and the second potential capture point trajectory associated with the second potential step path;
• and
• whether the second potential step path violates any of the one or more constraints indicative of the physical limitations of the robot;
• selecting, by the computing device, a particular step path of the first potential step path and the second potential step path based on the first error value and the second error value that does not violate the one or more constraints indicative of the physical limitations of the robot;
• and
• instructing movement of one of the feet toward a touchdown location of the particular step path.