Systematic Development of a Novel, Dynamic, Reduced Complexity Quadruped Robot Platform for Robotic Tail Research

This paper presents a systematical approach to develop a novel reduced complexity quadruped (RCQ) robot designed for serpentine robotic tail research purposes. The critical design requirements are determined based on careful dynamic analysis and synthesis results. Guided by formulated design requirements and principles, a robot prototype was designed and built. The robot has an overall weight of 5 Kg and the body size of a domestic cat. The existing electronic system allows a control frequency of up to 1 kHz and accepts both torque and position commands. These features guarantee that the platform could be used to explore the dynamic usages of robotic tails on legged locomotion. The preliminary tests show that the hardware can lift itself off the ground up to 112 mm (46.7% of its body height) and stay in the air for at least 0.3 seconds.