Design and Analysis of a Metamorphic Quadruped Robot

Abstract

Leg of robots predominantly adopts two types of configurations, insect-like configuration and mammal-like configuration. This paper presents a metamorphic quadruped robot whose leg possesses 4 degrees of freedom and can transfer to insect-like configuration and mammal-like configuration. The robot has 4 types of configurations, insect-like, reptile-like, mammal-like I and mammal-like II configurations. It skillfully combines two types of traditional configurations by well-founded mechanical structure design. Furthermore, gait transformation strategy between these four configurations on the basis of minimum torque and maximum stability was studied. And the workspace of the leg under different configurations is analyzed. The metamorphic quadruped robot possesses the advantage of controllably choosing optimal configuration to walk according to different terrain environment and mission requirement.