Panda Robot: Kinematic Design and Simulation for Quadrupedal Walking

For most quadruped robots, their waist joints can usually pitch or yaw, but cannot roll. Thus, their gaits can only be simulated by a simple motion model based on single-legged mechanisms. When pandas move on their four feet, they swing their hips and rear legs from side to side. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop a quadruped robot which is equipped with a waist joint of one degree of freedom (DOF) for rolling so as to imitate the waist-swinging motion of a real panda. This research starts at editing the predetermined motion conditions with lengths of all panda body parts and the mechanism model with corresponding degree-of-freedom in the CAE software. The related simulation parameters of leg motions are acquired as a reference for gait controls. The quadrupedal walking process was tested in simulators to verify important design variables and simulation validity was also verified on the actual panda robot after their buildup. With this approach, this study has effectively and successfully developed a panda robot with a waist joint that can roll.