Design and Motion Guidelines for Quadrupedal Locomotion of Maximum Speed or Efficiency with Serial and Parallel Legs

摘要

Analytical expressions are derived for actuator demands in quadrupedal locomotion of constant speed and height by using a reduction from a trot/ pace 6-bar model to a single-legged model and employing two widely used two-segmented leg architectures, the serial and the parallel. A method is developed that outputs optimal gait characteristics and leg designs for a robot to move with maximum efficiency or speed. Also, generic guidelines are presented, which answer questions such as: which speed should be selected for maximum efficiency, or which is the optimal leg architecture (serial/ parallel) and leg length for maximum efficiency or speed.