Road Following for Hexapod Mobile Robot with Adaptive Tripod Gait

The biological locomotion of animals shows an incredible degree of flexibility and durability that gives them an advantage to move across rough terrain. Even if hexapod robots are so superior to adjust with uneven terrains, they already have some problems to follow a smooth path exactly. With such obstacles, regular Periodic walking gates will not be able to respond quickly. During this study, the task to follow an accurately predetermined route in the Cartesian region is built through the adaptive gate. The Phantom_ll model robot case study is simulated via Matlab SimMechanics™ toolbox to evaluate and estimate dynamics of the hexapod and the adaptive gate implemented. In addition, the Phantom 11 case study is evaluated in the kinematic model that consisting of two main objectives, the direct and inverse kinematics. Inverse kinematics is calculated geometrically and the Denavit-Hartenberg method is applied to determine the direct kinematics. The robot margin of stability and kinematic limitations are also taken into consideration. Simulation results showed the suitability of the presented adaptive gait.