Active target tracking from a six-legged robot

In this paper we present a kinematic description of a six-legged laboratory prototype robot and control algorithm for tracking a target from the robot using active camera. The hexapod hardware platform with fluidic muscle is described. We present an algorithm that provides automatic control of a tilt camera to follow a target and keep its image centered in the camera view. An error coordinate defined in the image plane and representing the target offset with respect to the center of the image is used for camera control. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed control law.