Crawling gait for four-limbed robot and simulation on uneven terrain

Crawling motion by a robot is effective for reducing shock in the case of a fall. It thus decreases the possibility of a locomotion malfunction on uneven terrain. In this paper, the control of crawling motion on uneven terrain is described. Firstly, crawling motion and detailed motion are explained. Then, a method for controlling crawling motion is outlined for its realization. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for locomotion on uneven terrain, rough rubble ground was generated in a dynamics simulator and the crawling method was applied to our developed four-limbed robot. Additionally, a crawler robot was generated. A comparison was conducted to verify the difference in locomotion capabilities between the proposed method and other locomotion styles. The simulation results confirmed that the proposed method enabled successful locomotion of our four-limbed robot on uneven terrain.