• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.5 s.176
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• pp.1155-1165
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• 2000

Due to the irregularity of walking ground and the inaccuracy in trajectory control of a leg, the mechanical shock and slip on the ground can be caused in the landing and supporting legs of a walkin g robot, and the robot may lose walking stability. Especially in a jointed-leg type walking robot, those problems are much more severe than in the pantograph type since the leg-weight of the jointed-leg type walking robot is relatively heavier than that of the pantograph type in general. In order to secure the walking stability for the jointed-leg type quadrupedal robot under development in KIST(Korea Institute of Science and Technology), a balancing algorithm consisting of the leg compliance control and the body posture control is implemented in this paper, and the effectiveness of the algorithm is verified through experiments.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 1996.04a
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• pp.151-155
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• 1996

In this paper, the continuous motion of a quadrupedal walking machine was studied. The motion planning which is able a walking machine body to precisely follow a three-dimensional curve was developed. A three-dimensional curve was designed based on Bezier curve and obstacle avoidance considerations. Due to the arbitrary motion direction during walking, special strategies of gaits were developed to ensure positive stability. The gait strategies were based on wave and wave-crab gait.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.756-768
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• 1997

In order to control a dynamic gait of quadrupedal walking robot, the equations of motion of the whole mechanism are required. In this research, the equations of motion are formulated analytically using Kane's dynamic approach. As a dynamic gait model, a trot gait has been adopted. The degree of freedom of whole mechanism could be reduced to 7 by idealizing the kinematic feature of the trot gait. Using the equations of motion formulated, the results of the redundant-joint torque analysis and the simulation of dynamic walking motion are presented.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.308-313
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• 2010

This paper presents a performance index-based evaluation for a better quadruped robotic walking configuration. For this purpose, we propose a balance-based performance index that enables to evaluate the walk configuration of quadruped robots in terms of balance. In order to show the effectiveness the proposed performance index, we consider some types of walking configurations for a quadruped robotic walking and analyze the trend of the proposed performance index in those quadrupedal walking. Through the simulation study, it is shown that an effective walk configuration for a quadrupedal walking can be planned by adopting the proposed performance index.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2012

In this paper, we suggest a lifelike pattern generator for a quadruped walking system with a head, a tail, four legs and a torso. The system looks like a giant dinosaur which stands over 7 meters tall with its legs over 2 meters long. We focus on its lifelike naturalness. Thus, generating logical patterns in harmony with head-body-tail patterns and quadrupedal locomotion patterns makes you feel that the quadruped walking system is alive. The basic patterns of four legs and a body are obtained from a 3D graphic animation, which is made and captured from various motions of similar species in existence since the giant dinosaurs are exterminated. The dinosaur-like mechanism also is designed from bone and joint structures of quadrupedal animals. The lifelike pattern generator based on fuzzy logic could generate lifelike motions according to the dinosaur-like mechanism and the basic patterns. A series of computer simulations and experimental implements show that the pattern generator makes the quadruped walking system lifelike.

• International Journal of Fuzzy Logic and Intelligent Systems
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2013

In this study, we analyze the balance of quadruped walking robots. For this purpose, a simplified polygonal model of a quadruped walking configuration is considered. A boundary-range-based balance margin is used for determining the system stability of the polygonal walking configuration considered herein. The balance margin enables the estimation of the walking configuration's balance for effective walking. The usefulness of the balance margin is demonstrated through exemplary simulations. Furthermore, balance compensation by means of foot stepping is addressed.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.203-211
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• 2006

In this research, a comprehensive study is performed upon the design of a quadruped walking robot. In advance, the walking posture and skeletal configuration of the vertebrate are analyzed to understand quadrupedal locomotion, and the roles of limbs during walking are investigated. From these, it is known that the forelimbs just play the role of supporting their body and help vault forward, while most of the propulsive force is generated by hind limbs. In addition, with the study of the stances on walking and energy efficiency, design criteria and control method for a quadruped walking robot are derived. The proposed controller, though it is simple, provides a useful framework for controlling a quadruped walking robot. In particular, introduciton of a new rhythmic pattern generator relieves the heavy computational burden because it does not need any computation on kinematics. Finally, the proposed method is validated via dynamic simulations and implementing in a quadruped walking robot, called AiDIN(Artificial Digitigrade for Natural Environment).

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.1250-1258
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• 1997

This paper reports on the development of a new foot for a quadrupedal jointed-leg type walking robot. The foot has 2 toes, one at the front and the other at the rear side, for stable landing on uneven ground by point contact. The toes can move up and down independantly, guided by double-wishbone shaped parallel links which enable the lower leg to rotate with respect to a remote center on the ground surface. The motion of each toe is damped by a hydropneumatic shock absorber integrated in the foot in order to absorb the dynamic landing shock. Furthermore, the new foot can reduce the maximum hip joint drive torque by shortening the moment arm length between the hip joint and the landing force vector on the ground. Intensive experiments were carried out in this study by using a one-leg walking model to investigate the soft landing performance of the foot which could be hardly offered by conventional robot feet such as a flat plate with a gimbal type ankle joint. And it was confirmed that the hip joint torque of the leg walking on the flat surface could be reduced remarkably by using the new foot.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.196-202
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• 2019

Snake robots are slower than wheeled robots or legged robots, while they have an excellent terrainability in a disastrous area. Considering their advantages and disadvantages, a legged robot whose legs are snake robots, 'Quadnake' was proposed in this research. Five motions of the snake were analyzed. Applying these motions, Quadnake could implement eight kinds of motions which snake robots and quadruped walking robots can implement. As a result of it, Quadnake can have the advantages of both a snake robot and a walking robot. It is expected to move stably in a harsh terrain with snake's motion and move fast with walking.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.257-263
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• 2000

One of the basic assumptions in the static gait design for a walking robot is that the weight of leg should be negligible compared to that of body, so that the total gravity center is not affected by swing of a leg. Based on the ideal assumption of zero leg-weight, conventional static gait has been simply designed for the gravity center of body to be inside the support polygon, consisting of each support leg's tip position. In case that the weight of leg is relatively heavy, however, while the gravity center of body is kept inside the support polygon, the total gravity center of walking robot can be out of the polygon due to weight of a swinging leg, which causes instability in walking. Thus, it is necessary in the static gait design of a real robot a compensation scheme for the fluctuation in the gravity center. In this paper, a body impedance control is proposed to obtain the total gravity center based on foot forces measured from load cells of a real walking robot and to adjust its position to track the pre-designed trajectory of the corresponding ideal robot's body center. Therefore, the walking stability is secured even in case that the weight of leg has serious influence on the total gravity center of robot.