New Free Gait Generation for a Cockroach Robot

Based on primary/secondary gait method used for quadruped robot, this paper proposes a new free gait generation for the cockroach robot. A heuristic graph search procedure based on the A* algorithm has been used in the generation of the secondary gait to resolve the problem that too many support pattern to choose in hexapod robot. The primary gait composes of a fixed sequence of leg transfers, while the secondary gait is a flexible one which is generated to adjust the support pattern. The secondary gait works only when the primary one cannot move the machine. Four constraints, namely, stability constraint, kinematic constraint, sequential constraint, and neighboring constraint are considered when gaits are generated. The influence of the obstacle is also taken into account to modify the gait parameters. Simulation results are given to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed gait algorithm.