Optimized Foothold Planning and Posture Searching for Energy-Efficient Quadruped Locomotion over Challenging Terrains

Energy-efficient locomotion is of primary importance for legged robot to extend operation time in practical applications. This paper presents an approach to achieve energy-efficient locomotion for a quadrupedal robot walking over challenging terrains. Firstly, we optimize the nominal stance parameters based on the analysis of leg torque distribution. Secondly, we proposed the foothold planner and the center of gravity (COG) trajectory planner working together to guide the robot to place its standing legs in an energy-saving stance posture. We have validated the effectiveness of our method on a real quadrupedal robot in experiments including autonomously walking on plain ground and climbing stairs.