Walking on Uneven Terrain with Hexapod Robots Having Underactuated Legs and Articulated Body

Abstract

Hexapod walking robots are a subject of intense research in the existing literature. To move effectively in natural terrain, these robots must be able to adapt to surface irregularities. While most existing designs employ sophisticated technical solutions for the leg mechanisms, none of these projects allow for combined roll and pitch movements of the body segments. This paper addresses this gap, presenting the concept of a hexapod robot with a body formed of three segments connected by two active universal joints. This unique architecture allows the robot to locomote on both sides and autonomously recover from a rollover event. The robot’s legs are underactuated, utilizing a passive spring element to simplify the mechanical design and control system while maintaining effective terrain adaptation capabilities. Experimental results are presented and discussed, validating the theoretical model and demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed solution on varied terrains.