Temporal gait control of a quadruped robot

The design and control of a four-legged robot for operation on vertical sur faces is described. The requirement that the robot trajectory be continuall y modifiable on-line in response to external sensor data is addressed with the development of a temporal gait control strategy. The ensuing gait autom atically converges to various classical gaits for straight-line, turning an d spinning maneuvres, and naturally accommodates transitions between these. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of this co ntrol strategy. (C)2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.