4-legged mechanism of realizing dynamic running - a study on change of locomotion pattern by phase declination

This paper discusses the possibility to realize both of walking and running at a single robot, which is made by the combination mechanism of linkages and actuators. This linkage mechanism is driven by less numbers of actuators than degrees of freedom, and therefore it enables to reduce the weight of the robot. This study aims at realizing the 4-legged locomotion by controlling the phase to manipulate the legs made by linkage mechanism. This paper firstly shows the similarity of walking and running of 4-legged animal, and proposes the way of realizing the both actions by the declination of phase of motion. In order to design the leg mechanism with effective linkage systems, the kinematics simulator was developed and the performance of the prototype was tested.