The kinematics of legged locomotion over uneven terrain

This paper describes a complete motion-planning algorithm for uneven-terrain locomotion for a multilegged vehicle. The algorithm has been developed based on the vehicle/terrain kinematic relationships. The vehicle model is chosen from a hexapod vehicle, named the Adaptive Suspension Vehicle (ASV), which has been constructed at OSU and is currently being tested. A simple body regulation plan has been designed based on the local slope of the terrain and should increase the safety and adaptability of the vehicle. The local terrain is estimated by using the support points of the supporting legs and proximity information from the transfer legs. The algorithm has been implemented in simulation on the PDP-11/70 minicomputer and test results are given.