Efficient Legged Robot Locomotion Through Optimized Gait Planning for Unstructured Planetary Terrain

Abstract

Traditional rovers cannot maneuver easily through challenging environments, which limits their movement and exploration in planetary missions. Legged robots are potential solutions to replace them, but a detailed investigation is required to evaluate the mobility and the system efficiency. Control and gait-generation issues will have to be tackled to enhance the locomotion of a legged robot in such adverse environments. The paper will discuss the design and development of a Quadruped legged robot with emphasis on solving the most critical problems with mobility, control, gait generation, and power systems. The paper points to the possibilities of multifunction multi-modal mobile quadruped robots to be used in the exploration of planetary terrains, where their velocity and energy consumption are more advantageous than conventional rovers. Raising the state of the art in morphologies of leggings on different terrains and the use of sustainable and efficient on-board power generation systems are the key areas of development. The findings of the simulation suggest that the quadruped robot model was highly versatile as it was capable of climbing a 0.5-meter obstacle and traversing a 30-degree slope without losing its balance. The model showed that the gaits with full flight phases, like running trot/gait, become more efficient with reduced gravity. The findings confirm that the proposed system can afford high-speed and energy-efficient mobility to explore planets.