Design and Kinematic Simulation of a Novel Leg Mechanism for Multi-Legged Robots

Abstract

Abstract Among mobile robotic research field, legged locomotion is largely applied for advanced robotic systems due to the higher degree of versatility compared to wheeled robots, which allows them to successfully move and interact in unstructured environments; nevertheless, legged robots present several designing problems and require a much more complex control system. Based on an effective robotic leg, this paper presents a novel design, which integrates a cam joint, aimed to improve the versatility performances minimizing changes in the original model and without increasing the control complexity. Furthermore, the design strategy aims to exploit the coupled action of two actuators, which are disposed in a novel configuration so to gain versatility advantage while maintaining velocity performances of legs equipped with a single actuator. The model is presented through a kinematic analysis, followed by the simulation of the leg mechanism trajectory and a comparison with the original configuration.