A Design of Lightweight and High-power Leg Mechanism for Bipedal Running Robot Utilizing Joint Elasticity

Abstract

A robot lower limb mechanism that replicates human mass distribution, link dimension, joint power, and joint elasticity was developed. The authors intended to apply human locomotion dynamics to humanoid robot aiming to enhance its locomotion abilities. This mechanism incorporates a non-interfering parallel mechanism which drives the ankle joint from the thigh without interfering with the motion of the knee joint. Through experiments, it was confirmed that the knee joint motion and ankle joint motion do not in-terfere each other, and that it is possible to obtain arbitrary ankle joint angles.