Continuous Motion Utilising Advanced Motions on a Hexapod

Abstract

This paper presents the interpolation of motion primitives and the foothold planner for a hexapod which utilises advanced motions to navigate through complex environments such as narrow pathways and large holes which are surrounded by walls. Advanced motions are concerned with the use of vertical surfaces for footholds and currently consists of two motion primitives, wall and chimney walking aside from the standard ground walking. Previous work have not considered in detail the interpolation between the motion primitives for achieving continuous motion. The transition routines and foothold planning for the interpolation between these motion primitives are generated using a heuristic approach which ensures that the motion of the robot remains stable and avoids both inter-leg collision and kinematic singularity. The motion plan which includes the transition routines has been evaluated successfully in a kinematic simulation on the Corin hexapod. The results show that the robot was able to transition between the different motion primitives required for navigating through the complex environment and that such motions are realisable for hexapods.