Design and Simulation of a Single Leg of a Jumpable Bionic Robot with Joint Energy Storage Function

Abstract In this paper, the single leg of the jumpable bionic robot is designed, which is based on the analysis of the hind leg skeleton and muscle structure of the cheetah. The configuration of the single legs composed of a body module, a thigh module, a shank module, an ankle module and an energy storage unit. An energy storage unit is designed at each joint. The energy storage unit is driven by a servo motor, and servo motor drives a guide rod to compress a spring for energy storage, which can quickly release energy according to the action requirement to rapidly change motion state of the connected structure for realizing the jump of the single leg. In order to realize the simulation analysis of the robot motion, the single leg model was built using Solidworks software and the model was imported into ADAMS software for dynamic simulation. In the ADAMS software, the jumping ability of the robot is realized by motion planning, giving joint’s driving functions and the foot trajectory function. The contact force curve and the corresponding motion parameters are obtained between the foot point and the ground at the moment of take-off and landing. The work provides a theoretical support for the optimal design and practical use of the robot’s single leg.