Multiple terrain adaptation approach using ultrasonic sensors for legged robots

In this article, different methods are discussed in order to define a system for a legged robot to adopt an attitude when, while moving, finds an obstacle, irregularities and/or different kinds of soil. On-board ultrasonic sensors are used to detect the surface conditions and to determine the behaviour of the robot while walking, and therefore, with the help of the information obtained from other sensors, the system can choose between different types of gaits in order to optimise the walking conditions in each particular situation. Some experiments are presented to show the performance of the proposed approach of multiple terrain adaptation for legged robots.