Assembly and implementation of modular quadrupedal architecture

This paper describes the assembling process of a quadrupedal architecture using the modular robotic system Mecabot. Several possible topologies are addressed to finally opt for a design that allows the use of an active column. Based on this, the mathematical model of the control is proposed to perform the movements of displacement, open turn and rotation. The locomotion profiles for these first two movement modalities are bio-inspired. For the rotation modality, a characteristic quadrupedal robot transition is used to allow the correct rotation execution without using a great number of degrees of freedom. The robot is tested on structured and unstructured terrains by measuring its speed in function of the movement frequency variation. For the open turn modality, the described circumference radius is measured in function of the offset variation. With the tests, the second Mecabot configuration with legs is finally obtained complementing the research work carried out for apodal configurations (snake, wheel caterpillar) and hexapod.