Research Article Design and Dynamic Locomotion Control of Quadruped Robot with Perception-Less Terrain Adaptation

In this paper, a parallel quadrupedal robot was designed that is capable of versatile dynamic locomotion and perception-less terrain adaptation. Firstly, a quadrupedal robot with a symmetric legs and a powerful actuator was implemented for highly dynamic movement. Then, a fast and reliable method based on generalized least square was proposed for estimating the terrain parameters by fusing the body, leg, and contact information. On the basis of virtual model control (VMC) with the quadratic program (QP) method, the optimal foot force for terrain adaptation was achieved. Finally, the results obtained by simulation and indoor and outdoor experiments demonstrate that the robot can achieve a robust and versatile dynamic locomotion on uneven terrain, and the rejection of disturbances is reliable, which proves the effectiveness and robustness of this proposed method.

Automated summary

This paper presents the design of a parallel quadrupedal robot capable of versatile dynamic locomotion and perception-less terrain adaptation. The robot is implemented with symmetric legs and a powerful actuator for highly dynamic movement. A fast and reliable method based on generalized least square is proposed to estimate the terrain parameters. The optimal foot force for terrain adaptation is achieved using virtual model control with the quadratic program method. Simulation and experiments demonstrate the robot's robust and versatile dynamic locomotion on uneven terrain, proving the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method.