Journal
ADVANCES IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Volume 7, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1687814015573824
Keywords
Reconfigurable linkages; legged locomotion; planar mechanisms; Jansen linkage; walking platforms
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Funding
- SUTD-MIT International Design Center [IDG31200110, IDD41200105]
- SUTD-ZJU Research Center
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Legged robots are able to move across irregular terrains and those based on 1-degree-of-freedom planar linkages can be energy efficient, but are often constrained by a limited range of gaits which can limit their locomotion capabilities considerably. This article reports the design of a novel reconfigurable Theo Jansen linkage that produces a wide variety of gait cycles, opening new possibilities for innovative applications. The suggested mechanism switches from a pin-jointed Grubler kinematic chain to a 5-degree-of-freedom mechanism with slider joints during the reconfiguration process. It is shown that such reconfigurable linkage significantly extend the capabilities of the original design, while maintaining its mechanical simplicity during normal operation, to not only produce different useful gait patterns but also to realize behaviors beyond locomotion. Experiments with an implemented prototype are presented, and their results validate the proposed approach.
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