A continuous free crab gait for quadruped robots on irregular terrain

Abstract

This paper presents a new free crab gait for quadruped robots and describes the foothold planning method employed. In this method, some magnitudes are introudced to characterize the possible footholds regarding their suitability to achieve a given leg sequence. The efinition of these magnitudes is based on the absolute stability margin, and the terrain profile und uncertainty are considered in their calculation. The limitation and optimization of these magnitudes makes possible the selection of a suport point, making possible the continous motion of the vehicle on irregular terrain and avoiding deadlocked situations.