Modeling of a Leg System to Illustrate the Feasibility of Energy Recovery in Walking Machines

Abstract

Abstract A key consideration in the design of walking machines is the minimization of energy consumption. Two main avenues of research have been pursued in the past (a) finding an optimal gait which reduces energy consumption or (b) the employment of energy storage devices to recover energy from one step to the next. This study follows the latter approach, which has hitherto concentrated on hopping machines. Several practical design considerations for energy recovery in multi-legged walking machines, where a stance phase prevents the immediate recovery of energy from one step to the next, are investigated. Two schemes, passive and active locking, are introduced. The simplified models presented serve to illustrate the feasibility of these schemes.