Abstract
The design of legged robotic systems targeted for climbing on steep terrain is critical for expanding robotic exploration in challenging terrain. While the most advanced quadruped robots show encouraging performance in level locomotion, there is little knowledge on the optimal design for climbing legged robots. In this paper, we investigate the climbing performance of quadrupedal systems with different joint topologies. To this end, we present a quantitative comparison performed in simulations of two robots in different configurations concerning locomotion stability, energy efficiency, and control versatility. Based on the results, optimized nominal stances are selected for each robot, and their climbing locomotion is demonstrated and compared in a virtual deployment.
K. Uno and G. Valsecchi—-These authors contributed equally to this work.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 19J20685 and ESA Contract Number 4000131516/20/NL/MH/ic. The authors also want to thank Jordis E. Herrmann for her valuable contributions.
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Uno, K., Valsecchi, G., Hutter, M., Yoshida, K. (2022). Simulation-Based Climbing Capability Analysis for Quadrupedal Robots. In: Chugo, D., Tokhi, M.O., Silva, M.F., Nakamura, T., Goher, K. (eds) Robotics for Sustainable Future. CLAWAR 2021. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 324. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86294-7_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86294-7_16
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