The design and realization of a high mobility biomimetic quadrupedal robot

Legged robots have made significant strides in facing challenging tasks including navigating rough terrain with the help of energy conserving techniques. This paper describes the detailed design considerations and realization of Sabertooth, a high mobility biomimetic quadrupedal robot. Each leg of Sabertooth has three active degrees of freedom with the bottom two links employing a spring system to allow for compliance and power recovery. Sabertooth has two notable biomimetic features including a passive two degree of freedom spine and a fully compliant ankle system. The front and back ankles are designed differently to mimic a quadrupedal animals power and stability legs. The full system integrates an array of sensors including an inertial measurement unit, laser range finder, camera, and multiple potentiometers. The computing power is split between an onboard FPGA and netbook computer.