Influence of hexapod robot foot shape on sinking considering multibody dynamics

Abstract

Hexapod robots have attracted attention for their excellent terrain adaptabilities. When a robot walks on soft soil, dynamic subsidence and slippage greatly reduce its walking performance. The influence of foot’s shape is usually ignored or simply studied without considering the multibody dynamics of the robot. This study is focused on the influence of the foot shape on the walking performance of a robot by coupling the sinkage with multibody dynamics. A composite contact model based on the Bekker, spring-damping, and Janosi-Hanamoto models was used to model the interaction of the robot and soft soil. Non-uniform rational B-spline (NURBS) surface and mesh were used to describe the geometries of foot and soft soil, respectively. The influences of three foot shapes on the sinkage and walking stability of the robot were analyzed by comparsion. The improved X-shaped foot reduced the robot’s sinkage and improved its walking stability.