Body trajectory generation for legged locomotion systems using a terrain evaluation approach

The path generation for legged locomotion systems is difficult in that the legged motion must be considered together with the body movement. Owing to the large searching space resulted from the combination of leg movement and terrain condition, it is quite time consuming to produce an optimal result of body trajectory planning. In this paper, an effective method of body trajectory planning is introduced by virtue of a terrain evaluation that links the terrain condition with the machine mobility. Based on the evaluation, a potential field is constructed for the graph searching. The best first planning (BFP) is adopted to search the optimal path. The path generated with the proposed method could offer the best opportunity to place the machine feet moving with a certain gait over a rough terrain.