Abstract
The purpose of this research is to make a jumping machine jump over a big obstacle or a ditch and so on. A robot sometimes needs to jump to move over these obstacles. And the authors plan to do fundamental researches on a jumping machine to (1) make the machine jump as highly as possible, (2) control the direction of the jumping, (3) control the attitude of it in the air and (4) make it land softly. The machine is designed to jump by using actuators and springs effectively.
As to the evaluation function of jumping height, a jumping height index ηJ is introduced. It is the ratio of the maximum of the shortest distance between the ground and the bottom of the machine for the jumping to the maximum of distance that the body can move along the leg. The computer simulation and the experiment are performed to prove the validity of the design method using the jumping height index.
It is important to consider the machine dimension. ηJ varies with the size of the machine. It is calculated to different size of machines. It is shown by this simulation that the small machine has big ηJ and the big effect of the springs.
