Design and control of a four-link mechanism for high speed and dynamic locomotion

Abstract

With limited motor power, a good balance must be made between high speed and high torque to keep a robot run as fast as possible after meeting the torque demand for each joint. A quadruped robot with a novel leg mechanism is designed for high speed and dynamic locomotion. Two design principles are proposed in the design of a leg with low moment of inertia. A four-link transmission unit is proposed to change the motor's fixed-direction rotation into the leg's reciprocating swing. Optimization is carried out to acquire the biggest driving force. Kinematic analysis based on screw theory is made to help find out kinematic characteristics such as operating space and joint angular velocity. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.