PCG: a foothold selection algorithm for spider robot locomotion in 2D tunnels

This paper presents an algorithm, called PCG, for planning the foothold positions of spider-like robots in planar tunnels bounded by piecewise linear walls. The paper focuses on 3-limb robots, but the algorithm generalizes to robots with a higher number of limbs. The input to the PCG algorithm is a description of a tunnel hauing an arbitrary piecewise linear geometry, a lower bound on the amount of fnction at the contacts, as well as start and target foothold positions. Using efficient conuex programming techniques, the algorithm approximates the possible foothold positions as a collection of cubes in contact c-space. A graph structure induced by the cubes has the property that its edges represent feasible motion between neighboring sets of 3-limb postures. This motion is realized by lifting one limb while the other two limbs brace the robot against the tunnel walls. A shortest-path search along the graph yields a 3-2-3 gait pattern that moues the robot from start to target using a min...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: ICRA
• Authors: Amir Shapiro, Elon Rimon
• Keywords: Foothold Positions, ICRA 2003, PCG Algorithm, Robotics, Target Foothold Positions