Optimal Design of Klann-based walking Mechanism for Water-running Robots

Recently, many studies have been conducted to develop robots inspired by living creatures, but these robots have limitations when operating in various environments. In previous research, we developed an amphibious robot that could operate on a water surface and on the ground. The robot has good stability, but its running speed is not sufficient. In this study, we optimized the Klann leg mechanism of the robot to increase the running speed based on water surface operation. First, we modeled the interaction force between the water and the feet of the robot. We also numerically calculated the running speed when operating on water as the object function of the optimization process. We optimized the running speed using level average analysis. The result of optimization was used for ground locomotion, and the optimized running speeds were compared with the results of previous research. The optimized Klann mechanism will be used as the leg mechanism in an amphibious robot for running on water or on the ground.