MECANT I: a six legged walking machine for research purposes in outdoor environment

The authors discuss the overall structural design of a self-contained hydraulic six-legged machine, called MECANT I, which has been constructed for studying possible applications of legged vehicles in natural environments, like forests. First, the main mechanical solutions and control hardware of the machine are presented. The systematic approach to the motion planning of a legged vehicle and some algorithmical features are discussed. The special features of the leg control are presented. The use of a simulator in the design work is discussed, and the main principles of the control software structure, which supports fast software design and testing, are presented. Some continuing research topics and the present situation are discussed