Design and Simulation of a Novel Hybrid Leg Mechanism for Walking Machines

Abstract

This paper introduces a novel hybrid structure design that is composed of rigid links and cables for a robotic leg with static walking. The proposed mechanism is characterized by actuated hip joints, passive knee joints and an actuated prismatic foot joint. The foot is the moving platform of the proposed mechanism which possesses pure translational motion due to the passive parallelograms with cables. Kinematic analysis has been worked out for evaluating a typical human-like gait trajectory. A 3-D model has been developed and simulation are made in SolidWorks® environment. Simulation results show that the proposed mechanism is able to perform an ovoid walking cycle of a foot point and the computed actuator torques and forces are in a feasible range for a low-cost and easy-operation design. The simulation results will be used for a prototype construction in a future work.