Motion Analysis of a Six-Legged Robot Using the Bennett’s Linkage as Leg

Although the legged robots are considered as the most versatile type due to their major capability of moving on uneven terrain, the studied robots have not yet much mobility. In general this lack of mobility is related to the high number of degrees of freedom that makes it difficult to solve their mathematical model and applying it to the control system. This problem impose them a low operational velocity. Also the mobile robots which legs are based on parallel structures have not yet solved this problem. One alternative is to use simpler mechanisms, having small number of dof, for the legs. The solution analyzed in this paper uses the Bennett’s linkage for a six legged robot. From the kinematic analysis of each leg, the robot motion is analyzed on two kinds of movement: the tripod type and the tetrapod type. In the present work the kinematic analysis of the robot behavior is analyzed in order to know, in advance, what can occur with the robot when it is walking. After the analysis some studies are proposed in such a way the robot can have a smooth movement, even considering its dynamics.