TITAN-XIII: sprawling-type quadruped robot with ability of fast and energy-efficient walking

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss development of a sprawling-type quadruped robot named TITAN-XIII which is capable of high speed and energy efficient walking. We consider a sprawling-type quadruped robot is practical, because of its high stability which comes from the large supporting leg polygon and the low center of gravity. However in previous researches, the speed and the energy efficiency of a sprawling-type quadruped robot is lower than a mammal-type quadruped robot. Since cost of transport (COT) can be reduced by increase of walking velocity, we decided to design a fast walking sprawling-type quadruped robot. As a demonstrator, we developed the sprawling-type quadruped robot named TITAN-XIII. For a lightweight and compact leg, the right-angle type wire driven mechanism is adopted to the robot. To confirm its performance, several experiments were carried out and the robot walked at 1.38 m/s and COT of 1.76 was achieved. Finally, we compared the performance of TITAN-XIII with other quadruped robots, and confirm that its performance is almost same level as mammal-type quadruped robots.