Energy Efficient Swing Leg Trajectory Planning For Quadruped Robots Walking On Rough Terrain When the quadruped robots perform some patrol and rescue missions, they have to stay outdoors for a long time. Therefore, energy consumption should be reduced as much as possible to improve the robotxe2x80x99s endurance ability. In this paper, we analyzed the energy consumption of the electric quadruped robot in the swing leg phase and presented a swing leg trajectory optimization approach which is both collisionfree and energyefficient on rough terrain. The effectiveness of this trajectory has been verified by the experiments in which our quadruped robot Pegasus crossed obstacles such as steps, slopes, and stairs automatically. The experiments have been carried out both in computer simulation and the robot Pegasus.

Bionic Architecture Design and Robust RoughTerrain Locomotion for a HighPayload Quadrupedal Robot * In this work, an electrically actuated quadrupedal robot with bionic architecture, Pegasus, is reported. With investigating the anatomical skeleton of mediumsized dog, its movement mechanism, and dogxe2x80x99s joints, we conclude that the architecture design of quadrupedal robots can benefit from bionics research. There is an optimization for structural parameters, geometrical relationship, and motion range of each joint according to the findings in bionics. The bionic structure design is verified by analyzing mechanical performance and motion ability of the robot. The bionic architecture allows COG trajectory not to follow the terrain profile and COG fluctuations are significantly suppressed when going through rough terrains. In order to generate a stable COG trajectory with fewer pose fluctuations, the step sequence and four footholds in each step follow the typical biological gait pattern for dynamic walking over rough terrains while the robot can keep robust postures in efficient workspace for each leg. Moreover, Virtual Muscle model is realized for each legxe2x80x99s compliance control with two sets of virtual spring and damper, in order to absorb feet impacts on the ground.