Development of a hexapod walking robot: `Hexax-I´

This paper describes a hexapod walking robot named Hexax-I, which was developed for transportation in unstructured environments. In general, walking robots have poor energy efficiency due to their walking mechanisms. The authors propose a power system which consists of a gasoline engine and computer-controlled electromagnetic clutches and brakes. Gasoline engines have an excellent weight-to-power ratio in comparison with DC-motors. The authors propose a method of circular walking using the interaction between the steering and the propulsion. The driving systems of the propulsion and of the steering are shared. The robot is therefore lightweight because the steering actuators are left out, and so a high power-to-weight ratio is achieved. A simple control method for steering the legs by utilizing this special structure is also proposed