Design and characterization of a compliant-joint robotic jumping leg

Biological systems employ compliant joints to allow robust contact with the surroundings and to increase locomotive efficiency. In this experiment, we designed a three-link robotic leg with a compliant calf tendon that was acutated by a DC motor at the hip and measured the effect of compliance on the force profile and energy consumption for a single jump. The lengths of the femur, tibia, and foot were 150 mm, 210 mm, and 60 mm respectively. Overall vertical leg stiffness was varied from 472 N/m to 3980 N/m. Using a 40 degree angle ramp for the motor acutation profile, adding compliance tended to distribute force over time at a smaller magnitude which resulted in longer contact time with the ground. Total impulse was found to vary and peaked at a value of 3.42 Ns for a overall leg stiffness of 1180 N/m. The findings suggest that these systems can be optimized for performance by tuning the stiffness of compliant joints.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2010

Author dc:creator

• Wang, Albert Duan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sangbae Kim.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60207

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/60207