Abstract
In this study, the configuration of a bionic horse robot for equine-assisted therapy is presented. A single-leg system with two degrees of freedom (DOFs) is driven by a cam-linkage mechanism, and it can adjust the span and height of the leg end-point trajectory. After a brief introduction on the quadruped bionic horse robot, the structure and working principle of a single-leg system are discussed in detail. Kinematic analysis of a single-leg system is conducted, and the relationships between the structural parameters and leg trajectory are obtained. On this basis, the pressure angle characteristics of the cam-linkage mechanism are studied, and the leg end-point trajectories of the robot are obtained for several inclination angles controlled by the rotation of the motor for the stride length adjusting. The closed-loop vector method is used for the kinematic analysis, and the motion analysis system is developed in MATLAB software. The motion analysis results are verified by a three-dimensional simulation model developed in Solidworks software. The presented research on the configuration, kinematic modeling, and pressure angle characteristics of the bionic horse robot lays the foundation for subsequent research on the practical application of the proposed bionic horse robot.
Highlights
The quadruped walking robots are an important type of legged robots
The closed-loop vector method is used for the kinematic analysis, and MATLAB software is used for the development of the motion analysis system
A quadruped bionic horse robot driven by a cam-linkage mechanism is proposed
Summary
The quadruped walking robots are an important type of legged robots. Recently, many countries have conducted profound research on the walking robots, which denote a frontier technology of the strategic significance. In order to imitate the movement of a horse and achieve effective equine-assisted therapy, a bionic horse robot driven by a cam-linkage mechanism is designed. In the studies on the constant-breadth cam mechanisms, usually, the circular-arc cam profiles and displacement functions for the double-dwell follower were used, basically synthesized applying the cycloidal and polynomial motion curves to a monomial basis [26]. The kinematics modeling and analysis of the camlinkage mechanism are carried out, and the relationships between the structural parameters and foot trajectory of a single leg are obtained. On this basis, the pressure angle characteristics of the cam-linkage mechanism are thoroughly investigated.
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