Energy Efficiency of a Wheeled Bio-Inspired Hexapod Walking Robot in Sloping Terrain

Multi-legged robots, such as hexapods, have great potential to navigate challenging terrain. However, their design and control are usually much more complex and energy-demanding compared to wheeled robots. This paper presents a wheeled six-legged robot with five degrees of freedom, that is able to m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Robotics (Basel) 2023-04, Vol.12 (2), p.42
Main Authors: Žák, Marek, Rozman, Jaroslav, Zbořil, František V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
bio-inspired hexapod
Control systems
Design
Design and construction
Energy consumption
Energy efficiency
Energy use
Flat surfaces
Insect mimicking walking robots
Insects
Legs
Mobile robots
Reptiles & amphibians
Robot dynamics
robot energy efficiency
Robots
six-legged robot
Terrain
Walking
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Summary:Multi-legged robots, such as hexapods, have great potential to navigate challenging terrain. However, their design and control are usually much more complex and energy-demanding compared to wheeled robots. This paper presents a wheeled six-legged robot with five degrees of freedom, that is able to move on a flat surface using wheels and switch to gait in rugged terrain, which reduces energy consumption. The novel joint configuration mimics the structure of insect limbs and allows our robot to overcome difficult terrain. The wheels reduce energy consumption when moving on flat terrain and the trochanter joint reduces energy consumption when moving on slopes, extending the operating time and range of the robot. The results of experiments on sloping terrain are presented. It was confirmed that the use of the trochanter joint can lead to a reduction in energy consumption when moving in sloping terrain.
ISSN:2218-6581
2218-6581
DOI:10.3390/robotics12020042