Gait Planning of Quadruped Walking and Climbing Robot for Locomotion in 3D Environment

Abstract

One of the traditional problems in the walking and climbing robot moving in the 3D environment is how to negotiate the boundary of two plain surfaces such as corners, which may be convex or concave. In this paper a practical gait planning algorithm in the transition region of the boundary is proposed in terms of a geometrical view. The trajectory of the body is derived from the geometrical analysis of the relationship between the robot and the environment. And the position of each foot is determined by using parameters associated with the hip and the ankle of the robot. In each case of concave or convex boundaries, the trajectory that the robot moves along is determined in advance and the foot positions of the robot associated with the trajectory are computed, accordingly. The usefulness of the proposed method is confirmed through simulations and demonstrations with a walking and climbing robot.