The Offset Model of a Hexapod Robot and the Effect of the Offset Parameter

Abstract

Generally, it is claimed that hexapod walking robots are superior to others. However, in some conditions hexapod suffers from stability problems. To solve the problem of stability, this paper proposes a new gait model of hexapod robot named offset model and also investigates the effects of morphological factor of hexapod robots on their locomotion. A comparison between the offset model and general model of hexapod robot is also included. The stability margin and error margin are used to indicate the stability of a hexapod robot, as it walks with different gaits in arbitrary directions. Two hexapod gaits are compared, which are the diametrical gait and the paired metachronal gait. The former is an artificial gait and the latter is a natural gait. The authors conclude that that the stability of a hexapod robot with the diametrical gait can be enhanced by increasing the offset parameter.