The Robotics Institute
Search the site
RI | Publications | Legless Locomotion: A Novel Locomotion Technique for Legged Robots

Text only version of this site

Legless Locomotion: A Novel Locomotion Technique for Legged Robots
R. Balasubramanian, A. Rizzi, and M. Mason
International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 27, No. 5, May, 2008, pp. 575 - 594.

Jump to: Download | Abstract | Notes | Text Reference | BibTeX Reference

Download [Help]

Adobe portable document format (pdf) [5367 KB]

Copyright notice: This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Abstract

We present a novel locomotion strategy called legless locomotion that allows a round-bodied legged robot to locomote approximately when it is high-centered. Typically, a high-centered robot is stuck since the robot's legs do not touch the ground. Legless locomotion uses the legs as a reaction mass to set up oscillatory body rotations which when coupled with ground contact gradually translate the robot. Legless locomotion's continuous dynamics differs from previously studied locomotion methods because of the simultaneous interaction of gravity-induced oscillations, a configuration-dependent system inertia, and non-holonomic contact constraints. This paper employs simple models to capture the complex dynamics and uses the intuition developed from the models to develop gaits that provide planar accessibility. We also present a quantification of leg less locomotion's properties using simulations and motion-capture experiments.

Notes

Associated center: CFR
Associated lab/group: Manipulation Lab
Associated project: Legless Locomotion

Number of pages: 20

Text Reference

R. Balasubramanian, A. Rizzi, and M. Mason, "Legless Locomotion: A Novel Locomotion Technique for Legged Robots," International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 27, No. 5, May, 2008, pp. 575 - 594.

BibTeX Reference

@article{Balasubramanian_2008_6145,
   author = "Ravi Balasubramanian and Alfred Rizzi and Matthew Mason",
   title = "Legless Locomotion: A Novel Locomotion Technique for Legged Robots",
   journal = "International Journal of Robotics Research",
   month = "May",
   year = "2008",
   volume = "27",
   number = "5",
   pages = "575 - 594"
}


The Robotics Institute is part of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
For updates and comments, please see these instructions.
This page maintained by robotwebmaster@ri.cmu.edu