An efficient foot-force distribution algorithm for quadruped walking robots

One of the important issues of walking machine active force control is a su ccessful distribution of the body force to the feet to prevent leg slippage . In this paper, a new force distribution method, the Friction Constraint M ethod (FriCoM), is introduced. The force distribution during the walking of a typical quadruped crawl gait is analyzed by using the FriCoM. Computatio n results show that the distributed forces of the feet are continuous durin g the walking. This reflects the change of the force distribution during ac tual conditions. The comparison with a pseudoinverse method shows that the FriCoM is more practical. The FriCom also requires less computation time th an that by an incremental optimization method. Some problems, such as the s ingularity in the application of the FriCoM, are discussed. The FriCoM will be used in the active force control of a quadruped robot that is taken as a platform for the research on the study of terrain adaptation.