Modeling of a Hexapod Robot; Kinematic Equivalence to a Unicycle
Date
2009-04
Authors
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Publisher
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware
Abstract
This report describes the kinematic and dynamic modeling of a hexapod robot. The 6-DOF (degrees of freedom)
analytical kinematic and dynamic equations of motion are derived following the classical Newtonian mechanics.
Under certain task-specific assumption, it is shown that the complex 6-DOF model can be simplified, resulting in an
abstract model. Specifically, the motion of the robot on the horizontal plane in particular is described by the unicycle
model with dynamic extension. The abstract unicycle model exhibits restricted behavior compared to the concrete
hexapod model, but facilitates motion planning and control design and ensures that higher level control plans are
implementable as low level control laws.
Description
Keywords
hexapod robot