Minimizing Energy Consumption in Hexapod Robots

Minimization of energy expenditure in autonomous mobile robots for industrial and service applications is a topic of huge importance, as it is the best way of lengthening mission time without modifying the power supply. This paper presents a method to minimize the energy consumption of a hexapod robot on irregular terrain. An energy-consumption model is derived for statically stable gaits before applying minimization criteria. Then, some parameters that define the foot trajectories of the legged robot are computed to minimize energy expenditure during every half a locomotion cycle. The method is evaluated using an accurate geometric model of the SILO-6 walking robot. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2009