Haptic Interface for Hexapod Gait Execution

Legged locomotion offers flexibility and maneuverability over wheeled or tracked systems. The advantages allow legged robots to traverse a wide array of heterogeneous terrains that are otherwise inaccessible. Examples of such scenarios include search and rescue, field applications, and space exploration. On the other hand, generalized autonomous walking is difficult - step planning, dynamic analysis, balance control, gait execution and adaptive foothold selection must execute in concert for successful legged locomotion. This paper presents a method for leveraging human decision making and adaptability to control legged robot walking with a haptic interface. The magnitude and direction of force feedback as well as average step size were tracked during basic locomotion. Overall robot navigation trajectory was also enhanced with haptic feedback.