CHINESEJOURNALOFMECHANICALENGINEERING Vol.24,aNo.

5,a2011
DOI:10.3901/CJME.2010.05.***,availableonlineatwww.cjmenet.com www.cjmenet.com.cn

AdjustableMechanismforWalkingRobotswithMinimumNumberofActuators
* GUHAAnirban and AMARNATHC

DepartmentofMechanicalEnginering,IndianInstituteofTechnologyBombay,Mumbai400076,India
Received December23,2010revised July 6,2011 accepted July 11,2011published electronically July 12,2011

Abstract: Recent literature on walking robots deals predominantly with multidegreesoffreedom leg mechanisms and machines capable of adoptingseveral gaits.This paper explores the otherend of the spectrum suggesting mechanisms derived from a fourbar couplercurveforaonedegreeoffreedomwalkingrobot.Simulationofthewalkindicatesthatbodyoftherobotisabletomovewith lowvariationinvelocity.Thebeststrategyforchangingthegaittoenabletherobottowalkoverobstaclesandtheeffectofchangein lengthofdifferentlinksareexploredtoopenupthepossibilityofatwodegreeoffreedomwalkingrobotwiththecapabilityofchanging itsgait,suitableasalowcostunitforseveralapplications.SuchruggedunitswouldpermittheuseofanICengineastheprimarysource ofpowerandcouldbeofutilityininstallationswhereelectronicsmaynotbefunctional.Insimplewalkingmachinesthefootofalegis usuallyrequiredtotraceaDshapedcurvewithrespecttothechassis.InthispaperwebeginwithaHoeckenmechanismcapable of tracingsuchacurve.Thefootisrequiredtomoveparalleltoitselfandthesamecouldbeachievedusingasixoreightlinkmechanism. Afewsuchdeviceshavebeensynthesizedinthispaperandtheirmotionpropertiescompared.Thestudyalsocoversthepossibilityof providingadjustmentstovarythesteplengthandheightofthefoot'smovement. Keywords:walkingrobot,degreeoffreedom,couplercurve,gait

1 Introduction*
While designing a walking robot, one of the first decisions pertains toa selection of the degrees of freedom [1] ofeachleg .Adesignwithlegspossessingseveraldegrees of freedom leads to the ability to walk with several gaits and negotiate complex terrains. The large number of actuators leads to anincrease in weightandthe additional sensors may reduce the robustness. Reduction in the degrees of freedom reduces both the number of gaits available as also the robots ability to negotiate different typesofterrain.Walkingrobotdesignershavetriedtosolve [2] this dilemma by mechanical coordination of motion . However, a search of literature reveals that simplification ofdesignandreductionofthedegreesoffreedomhasbeen accompaniedbyalessthanidealtrajectoryforthelegofa [3] walkingrobot(VINAYAKandSEN ).Theidealtrajectory wouldbeaDwiththestraightsideoftheDfacingthe groundandaconstantvelocityinthisstraightportion.This can be attained at present only by walking robots with multidegrees of freedom legs examples being Hondas [4] [5] Asimo and Nataraj . A related problem is to be able to changethegaitwithasfewadditionalactuatorsaspossible. Usually,achangeingaitispossible onlyincaseswherea large number of actuators are available, a few examples [6] being the robots described by HIROSE, et al and [7] YONEDA,etal . This paper provides a simple modification to a well
* Correspondingauthor.Email:amarnath@me.iitb.ac.in

knownmechanismtoobtainanearlyidealtrajectoryforthe legs of a walking robot. It suggests how mechanical coordinationcanbeusedtomaketherobotwalkwithonly one actuator.Itthenexploresthebeststrategytochangethe gait by using a single additional actuator. The changes in velocity, acceleration and jerk with changein gaitarealso investigated.

2 TowardsanIdealWalkingMechanism
2.1 Thefour bar coupler curve From the point of view of reliability, it would be preferable to designthe legs of a walkingrobot with only revolutepairsandavoidprismaticpairs.Sincereductionof complexityisoneoftheprimeobjectivesofadesigner,the four bar linkage would be ideal for a leg, provided a suitablecouplercurveisavailable.Theidealcouplercurve wouldbeintheformofaDwiththestraightsideofthe Dfacingawayfromthemechanismenvelop.Inaddition,a nearly constant velocity in the straight portion of the D would be preferable. Unfortunately, no four bar coupler curvesatisfiesthesecriteria.Theclosestonecangetiswith [8] the Hoeckens mechanism (Fig. 1) . The ratios of link lengthsaregivenasfollows: AB=100, BC=250,CD=250, AD=200,CE=250. ThecouplerpointE liesinlinewiththecouplerBC.The two diagrams in Fig. 1 show the mechanism at two positionsofthecrankAB,180apart.Thecouplercurveis intheformofaDandthevelocityofthecouplerpointE is nearly constant in the almost straight portion of the D.

YGUHAAnirban,AMARNATHC:AnAdjustableMechanismforWalkingRobotswithMinimumNumberofActuators
thelinks AB andHJ arethesame. Lettherighthandcognatebetranslatedwithoutrotation such that the pivot H coincides with the pivot A and the links ABandHJ areconjoinedtoformasingleternarylink asshowninFig. 3.

But the straight side of the D faces the mechanism. This meansthatifthisisusedalegofawakingrobot,thenthe transfer phase would correspond to the curved portion of theD.Thisisnotpreferablebecauseitwouldintroducean unnecessary vertical displacement of the robots body and there would be considerable variation in velocity during eachcycle.

Fig.1. Hoeckensmechanismintwopositions

Fig.3. Hoeckensmechanismwithitsright cognatesuitablytranslated

2.2 ModificationoftheFourBar The ideal solution would be to transpose the coupler curveoftheHoeckensmechanismtoapositionbelowthe mechanisminFig.1withoutchangingitsorientation.This sectionexploresfourwaysofachievingthis,twoofwhich result in six bar mechanisms and the other two result in eightbarmechanisms. The first strategy was to take advantage of cognates of theHoeckensmechanism.Thetwocognatesareshownin Fig. 2. The Hoeckens mechanism has been shown in a positioninwhichthecrank ABis90aheadoftheposition showninFig. 1foreaseofvisualization.

The coupler point of the right hand cognate (E) continues to trace the same coupler curve as E in the originalmechanism.Thus,alinkcanbeusedtojoinEand Eandthislink willalways remain parallel to itself. This, however, results in an overconstrained mechanism. The redundantconstraintscanberemovedbyremovingthelink DK(Fig.4).TheresultingmechanismisasingleDoFsix link mechanism in which the link EE remains parallel to itself. Anypointonthislinkoritsextensionwilltracethe same coupler curve as the coupler point E of the original Hoeckens mechanism. The point L in Fig. 4 is such a suitably placed coupler point which allows the coupler curvetheHoeckensmechanismtobereplicatedsothatthe straightsectionoftheDfacesawayfromthemechanisms envelop.

Fig.2. Hoeckensmechanismwithitstwocognates

ThemechanismAFGHiscalledthelefthandcognatein which the coupler point E on the coupler FG traces the samecurveasthecouplercurveoftheoriginalmechanism Fig.4. Mechanismderivedfromtherightcognate (ABCD).TheangularrotationofthelinksCDandGHare the same. Similarly, the mechanism HJKD is called the A similar procedure can be used for deriving a right hand cognate in which the coupler point E on the mechanismfromtheleftcognate.Theresultingmechanism coupler JK traces the same curve as the coupler curve of isshownisFig. 5 withL asthe requiredcouplerpoint. the original mechanism (ABCD). The angular rotation of

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Thecranksofthelattertrio(orquartet)canbe180outof phasewiththecranksoftheformer.Allsix(oreight)legs canbedrivenfromthesameshaftthusmakingitasingle degreeoffreedomwalkingrobot. 2.3 Simulation Such a robot with eight legs was simulated in a mechanismsimulator(ADAMS)andwasfoundtowalkas expected. One quartet of legs is always on the ground (stancephase),thusprovidingtherobotgoodstability.The otherquartetisalwaysintheair(transferphase).Thebody oftherobotisalwaysparalleltotheground.Thequarteton thegroundalwaysexecutesthestraightportionoftheDof the coupler curve, thus giving the body of the robot a smoothmotion.ThisisseeninFig.8wherethevelocityof the robots body has been plotted for one complete cycle. Bycomparingitwiththevelocityofthecouplerpointofa Hoeckens mechanism (Fig. 9), it is seen that the 0 to 180section of the curve in Fig. 9 is replicated twice duringeachofthestancephasesofthetotalwalkingcycle (Fig. 8). The small differences are due to high but finite damping at contact points between legs and ground in the simulation environment, leading to a small bounce of the robotsbody.Thisconfirmsthattheadvantageofusingthe nearly straight portion of the coupler curve is indeed available.

Fig.5. Mechanismderivedfromtheleftcognate

Two more ways of replicating the coupler curve of Hoeckens mechanism in a suitable position are shown in Figs. 6 and 7. Both of these are single DoF eight link mechanisms in which the coupler curve of Hoeckens mechanismisreplicatedatL.

Fig.6. Hoeckensmechanismwithtwoparallelograms

Fig.8. Velocityofrobotsbodyforonecomplete walkingcycle

Transfer Stance phase phase

Fig.7. TwoHoeckensmechanisms

Fig.9. Velocityofcouplerpoint(E)ofHoeckensmechanism

ThepointLofanyofthemechanismsshowninFigs.4, 5,6and7canformtheendpointofoneofthelegsofthe robot.Three(orfour)suchlegscanbeattachedtothree(or four) corners of the body of arobot and theirmotions can besynchronisedbydrivingtheircranksfromthesameshaft. Three (or four) more legs can be attached close to these.

Fig.10givestheisometricviewofthemechanisminthe simulation environment. The legs were mounted far apart on the chassis for troubleshooting and the mechanism showninFig.7wasusedforthisexercise.Amorecompact mechanismwiththelegsplacedcloserwouldpossesssame

YGUHAAnirban,AMARNATHC:AnAdjustableMechanismforWalkingRobotswithMinimumNumberofActuators

characteristics.This isasingledegree of freedom walking robot executing a single gait. The fact that the coupler curve of the Hoeckensmechanism is symmetrical abouta verticalaxis,contributestothesmoothnessofmotionofthe robot.

Fig.12. Effectofchangeinlengthofcoupler(BC) oncouplercurve

Fig.10. Robotinthesimulationenvironment

3 ChangingtheGaitParameters
Thenextobjectivewastodeterminethebeststrategyto changethegaitparameters. Atypicalreasontochangethe gait parameters would be to overcome obstacles. This wouldneedthestepheighttobeincreasedwithapossible change in horizontal step length being acceptable. This would require a coupler curve with greater height and, if necessary, lower width. The most preferable way of achieving this is to change the length of only one of the links of the Hoeckens mechanism. It would be preferable tochangethecouplercurveinsuchawaythatthechanged couplercurveremainssymmetricalaboutahorizontalaxis. 3.1 Identificationoftheadjustablelink Small changes were made in the lengths of all the links oftheHoeckensmechanismandtheireffectonthecoupler curvewasobserved(Figs. 11to15).
Fig.14. Effectofchangeinlengthofgroundlink(AD) oncouplercurve

Fig.13. Effectofchangeinlengthofrocker(CD) oncouplercurve

Fig.11. Effectofchangeinlengthofcrank (AB) oncouplercurve Fig.15. Effectofchangeinlengthofextension tocoupler(CE)oncouplercurve

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Itisseenthatanincreaseinlengthofthecrank(AB)will produce the desired change (Fig. 11). The changed curve hasgreaterwidthandheightcomparedtotheoriginalcurve and continues to be symmetric about a vertical axis. Increase of the length of a crank is possible by the [9] techniqueemployedinshapermechanisms . The next best option is to increase the length of the groundlink(AD).ItisseenfromFig.14thatincreasingthe lengthofADresultsincouplercurveswhicharegreaterin height but lower in width compared to the original curve. AD being a ground link, it might be easier incorporate a linearactuatortovarythelengthofADthanitisforanyof theotherlinks.IncreasingthelengthofADbymovingthe ground pivot D horizontally was found to impart a small but undesirable tilt to the coupler curves of Fig. 14. An actuator which moves the ground pivot D in an arc about the initial position of C was seen to be better and these curveshavebeenplottedinFig. 14. Fortheeightbarmechanismsshownin Figs.6and7,a change in position of D needs to be accompanied by a correspondingandsimilar change inthepositions ofF(in Fig. 6) or J (in Fig. 7). These changes are easily effected using a single screw and will ensure that the change in coupler curve at E is replicated at L. There is no such convenientchangepointforthesixbarmechanismsshown in Figs. 4 and 5. A change in the coupler curve at E is difficulttoreplicateatLineitherofthesixbarmechanisms because the lengths of the links associated with the cognates have to be changed. Thus, for a 1 DOF walking robot, the six bar mechanisms will be preferred while for introducing the capability of changing the gait by adding onemoredegreeoffreedom,itisnecessarytoadoptoneof the eight bar mechanisms. One actuator would be responsible for walking and the other actuator would changethegaitparameters. 3.2 Effectof changeofgaitparameters It is essential to examine whether the motion of the coupler point is as desired once some link lengths are varied.Themannerinwhichvelocity,accelerationandjerk ofthecouplerpointEchangesasthelengthsofAB andAD areincreased, isshowninFigs. 16to21.

Fig.16. Changeinvelocityofcouplerpoint withincreaseinlengthofcrank(AB)

Fig.17. Changeinvelocityofcouplerpoint withincreaseinlengthofgroundlink(AD)

Fig.18. Changeinaccelerationofcouplerpoint withincreaseinlengthofcrank(AB)

YGUHAAnirban,AMARNATHC:AnAdjustableMechanismforWalkingRobotswithMinimumNumberofActuators
these plotsthose corresponding to crank rotations between 0 and 180(i.e. stance phases)will be of relevance for the motion of the robots body. A closer inspection of velocity, accelerationand jerk forthis stance phase(Figs.22to27)indicatesthefollowing: (1)PeakvelocityincreaseswithincreaseinlengthofAB butdecreaseswithincreaseinlengthof AD. (2)Peakaccelerationdecreaseswithincreaseinlengthof ABandremainsnearly constant with increase in length of AD(occurringat0ofcrankrotation). (3)PeakjerkdecreaseswithincreaseinlengthofABand

Fig.19. Changeinaccelerationofcouplerpoint withincreaseinlengthofgroundlink(AD)

remains nearly constant with increase in length of AD (occurringat 0ofcrankrotation). However,thetrendsfromtheaccelerationandjerkplots indicate that a further increase in length of AD will cause thepeakaccelerationandjerktobehigherandthesepeaks will occur at 90of crank position. Thus, if ground link ADischosenasthelinkwhoselengthistobechangedfor changing the gait and if acceleration of the robots body turnsouttobealimitingconstraint,thenthelengthoflink ADshouldnotbeincreasedbymorethan50%.

Fig.20. Changeinjerkofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofcrank(AB)

Fig.22. Changeinvelocityofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofcrank(AB)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle

Fig.21. Changeinjerk ofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofgroundlink(AD)

It is seen that the peak velocity, acceleration and jerk increasewithincreaseinlengthofcrank(AB)butdecrease withincreaseinlengthof fixedlink(AD).Thisapparently indicatesareasonforchoosingADasthelinklengthtobe changed rather than AB. However, only the first halves of

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Fig.26. Changeinjerkofcouplerpointwithincrease Fig.23. Changeinvelocityofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofgroundlink(AD)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle inlengthofcrank(AB)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle

Fig.24. Changeinaccelerationofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofcrank(AB)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle

Fig.27. Changeinjerkofcouplerpointwithincreasein lengthofgroundlink(AD)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle

Tosummarize,changingthegaitbyincreasingthecrank length (AB) will lead to the robot moving faster but experiencing lower peak acceleration and jerk. Changing thegaitbyincreasinglengthofgroundlinkADwillleadto the robot moving slower with negligible change in acceleration and jerk, provided the link length is not increasedbymorethan50%.

6 Conclusions
A study was undertakento identify the four bar coupler curve best suited for designing the leg of a walkingrobot. The cognates of the Hoeckensmechanismresulted intwo sixbar mechanisms, both of which permit the coupler curve of Hoeckens mechanisms to be shifted to a convenient position. Two eightbar mechanisms were also designed which provide similar shifts. A robot could be designedtowalkwithonlyoneactuatorusingtheeitherthe sixbarortheeightbarlinkages.Achangeofgaitrequired for overcoming obstacles is possible by incorporating an additional actuatorintheeightbarmechanisms.Analysisof variationsinvelocity,accelerationandjerkwiththechange ingaitindicatesthatchangingthelengthofeitherthecrank

Fig.25. Changeinaccelerationofcouplerpointwithincrease inlengthofgroundlink(AD)plottedforhalfofcrankcycle

YGUHAAnirban,AMARNATHC:AnAdjustableMechanismforWalkingRobotswithMinimumNumberofActuators
the 1997 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Albuquerque,NewMexicoApril, 1997: 494-500. [7] YONEDA K, ITO F, OTA Y, at al. Steep slope locomotion and manipulation mechanism with minimum degrees of freedom[C]//Proceedings of the 1999 IEEVRSJ International ConferenceonIntelligentRobotsandSystems, 1 896-1 901. [8] DIJKSMAN E A. Motion geometry of mechanisms[M]. London: CambridgeUniversityPress,1976. [9] CHAPMAN W A J. Workshop technology, Vol. 1[M]. Oxford and Burlington: ButterworthHeinemann,1972.

orthegroundlinkwill providethebestmotion. References

[1] YONEDA K, OTA Y, ITO F, HIROSE S. Construction of a quadrupedwithreduceddegreesoffreedom[C]//IECON2000,2000 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Control and Instrumentation, 21st Century Technologies and Industrial Opportunities(Cat.No.00CH37141), Vol.1,2000: 28-33. [2] McKENDRYJ, BROWN B, WESTERVELT E R, et al. Kinematic design and dynamic analysis of a planar biped robot mechanically coordinated by a single degree of freedom[C]//2007 IEEE InternationalConferenceonRoboticsandAutomation,Roma, Italy, 1014April2007: 1 875-1 880. [3] VINAYAK, SEN D. Studies on the steering of a singledegree offreedom Hexapod[C]//12th IFToMM World Congress, Besanon ,France,June18-21,2007. [4] LIM H, OGURA Y, TAKANISHI A. Dynamic locomotion and mechanism of biped walking robot[C]//SICEICASE International Joint Conference 2006 Oct. 18-21, 2006 in Bexco, Busan, Korea, 3 484-3 489 [5] KHARADE A, KURIEN ISSAC K, at al. Nataraj: a six legged walking robot for nuclear power plants[C]//Proceedings of Aerospace and Related Mechanisms Symposium, ARMS2002, Trivandrum,India,2002. [6] HIROSES,YONEDA I, TSUKAGOSHIH.TITANVII:Quadruped walkingandmanipulatingrobotonasteepslope[C]//Proceedingsof

Biographicalnotes
GUHAAnirban, born in 1972,is currently anassistantprofessor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)Bombay,India.HereceivedhisPhDdegreefrom IIT Delhi, India in 2002. His research interests include machine designandrobotics. Tel:+912225767590Email:anirbanguha1@gmail.com AMARNATH C, born in 1947, is currently a professor at Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT)Bombay,India.HereceivedhisPhDdegreefrom AllahabadUniversity,India in1976.Hisresearchinterestsinclude machinedesignandrobotics. Tel:+912225767501Email:amarnath@me.iitb.ac.in