Multi-locomotion robot - Energy-based motion control for dexterous brachiation

This paper introduces a multi-locomotion robot which has multiple types of locomotion. The robot is developed to achieve a bipedal walk, a quadrupedal walk and a brachiation, mimicking locomotion ways of a gorilla. It therefore has higher mobility by selecting a proper locomotion type according to its environment and purpose. In this paper we focus on brachiation mode and propose a control algorithm to realize stable and efficient continuous brachiation while the ultimate purpose of this study is to develop a unified control architecture which realize multiple types of dexterous locomotion like an animal as well as motion stability and efficiency. Swing control of brachiation according to the total energy of the system is one of key issues in order to realize the continuous brachiation, because the brachiation can be modeled as a pendulum-like motion and the amplitude of the oscillation determines whether the robot can grasp the target ladder or not. We propose an energy-based control algorithm and install it into the swing action controller. Experimental results show that the robot can successfully achieve smooth and continuous brachiation.