Mechanism and Structures: Humanoids and Quadrupeds - Bioinspired Approaches for Human-Centric Technologies - page 132

Chapter 5
Mechanism and Structures: Humanoids
and Quadrupeds

Darwin G. Caldwell, Nikos Tsagarakis, and Claudio Semini

5.1 Introduction

The world, both natural and man-made, is a complex, unstructured, cluttered and
dynamically changing environment through which humans and animals move
with consummate ease, adapting to changing environments, terrains and challenges.
Wheeled robots are increasingly able to work in some of these terrains, particularly
those that have naturally or artificially smoothed surfaces, but there are, and will
continue to be, many scenarios where only human-/animal-like levels of agility,
compliance, dexterity, robustness, reliability and movement/locomotion will be
effective. These domains will create new opportunities for legged locomotion
(both bipedal and quadrupedal), but these new challenges will demand increased
functionality in the legged robots, moving from the current domain dominated by
simple walking and balance maintenance, to address key whole-body interaction
issues during physical contact with humans, other robots and the environment
(Fig. 5.1 ). This will require the development of robots that are able to exploit:
• Multiple Adaptive Locomotion Formats:

- Walking on smooth, undulating and cluttered surfaces
- Crawling on two, three or four limbs and even with the torso in contact with
the ground
- Using external supports to assist and augment

locomotion (handrails,

crutches, desks, walls, etc.)
- Manoeuvring through small, cramped and confined spaces (e.g. entering
narrow corridors, reaching between objects, etc.)
- Grasping and manipulating objects while moving—picking up objects 'in
passing'