A locomotion robot for heavy load transportation

Abstract

This paper deals with a new type of 4-leg locomotion mechanism with jack-type legs. This research aims at developing the locomotion robot for heavy load transportation. The jack-type leg can hold heavy load without active control by actuator and lift up it by small power. The proposed mechanism achieved the locomotion by crawl step that forwards a leg by twisting the waist. As the experimental results, the developed prototype walked at 0.001m/s and held the load of 45 kg. This paper introduces the basic ideas and mechanism of robot with the proposed jack-type legs and discusses the basic performance of developed prototype. © 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.