Development of a walking algorithm on the uneven terrain for a hexapod robot Little Crabster200

Abstract

In Korea, the underwater robot Crabster200 was developed to perform missions such as accident correspondence, artifact exploration, and resource extraction. To explore the shallow sea successfully, it was designed to walk and swim with six legs. Besides, to develop the walking algorithm efficiently, a small model of Crabster200, Little Crabster200, was developed as well. This article describes the development of a walking algorithm on the uneven terrain for the hexapod robot Little Crabster200. The main purpose of the algorithm is for the robot to maintain a horizontal posture while it walks on uneven terrain. The pattern generator makes a trajectory of normal walking on the flat ground, and the online controller helps Little Crabster200 maintain stable walking on uneven terrain. The proposed algorithm was verified by experiments using the Little Crabster200 on a treadmill equipped with obstacles such as wood boards and bricks. The Little Crabster200 walked stably on the uneven terrain while maintaining a horizontal posture in the experiments.