A feasibility study on the design and walking operation of a biped locomotor via dynamic simulation

Abstract

A feasibility study on the mechanical design and walking operation of a Cassino biped locomotor is presented in this paper. The biped locomotor consists of two identical 3 degrees-of-freedom tripod leg mechanisms with a parallel manipulator architecture. Planning of the biped walking gait is performed by coordinating the motions of the two leg mechanisms and waist. A three-dimensional model is elaborated in SolidWorks^® environment in order to characterize a feasible mechanical design. Dynamic simulation is carried out in MSC.ADAMS^® environment with the aims of characterizing and evaluating the dynamic walking performance of the proposed design. Simulation results show that the proposed biped locomotor with proper input motions of linear actuators performs practical and feasible walking on flat surfaces with limited actuation and reaction forces between its feet and the ground. A preliminary prototype of the biped locomotor is built for the purpose of evaluating the operation performance of the biped walking gait of the proposed locomotor.

Key words： feasibility study; biped locomotor; biped walking; mechanical design; dynamic simulation; tripod leg mechanism; 3-UPU parallel manipulator

Acknowledgments

The first author acknowledges the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) for supporting his PhD study and research at the Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM) at the University of Cassino and South Latium, Italy, during the years 2013–2015.

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