DESIGN OF A HOPPING ROBOT

A Project Report submitted

In partial fulfilment Of the completion of internship awarded by

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR EXCHANGE OF

STUDENTS FOR TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE (IAESTE)

For
Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Submitted by

Battula Krishna Chaitanya

Under the guidance of

Dr.Riadh Zaier
Professor,
Department Of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering,
College of Engineering, Sultanate of Oman.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am greatly indebted to our project guide Dr.RIADH ZAIER for providing the required
facilities, a conducive working environment and constant support to do my best in the endeavour.
His guidance, support and encouragement made this work possible
We had a great experience doing this project work and we would be really grateful to continue
such work under your guidance.

Abstract
The Main Objective of this project is to design a miniature hopping robot that has a knee joint
and with the jumping and balancing capability, and equipped with sensory in order to provide a
suitable platform for advanced research on running biped robot.
Designing a three-link leg with springs and actuators; using spring at the knee/hip joint to store
the gravity energy that will be used to lift off. The actuator will be used to control the motion
only.

Contents:
1. Introduction.
Why
Study
Leg
Robots?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Back
Ground
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5
Introduction
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6
Objective
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
Scope
of
Project
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7
Problem
Statement
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
What
is
Hopping
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
2.

Different leg Hoppers.

2.1 Monopad
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9
2.2 Planar one leg-Hopper
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 10
2.3 3D one leg-Hopper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11
2.4 Uniroo
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12
2.5 Robo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13
3. Solid Works
3.1
Sketch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------13
3.2
Parts
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------14
3.3
Assemblies
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16
3.4
Mate
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------18
3.5
Simulation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19
4

4. Design model
4.1 Phases and events
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21
4.2 Dynamics of the model
----------------------------------------------------------------------- 22
4.3 Control during the stance phase
----------------------------------------------------------- 23
4.4 Control during the flight phase
------------------------------------------------------------- 23
5. Main Parts
5.1 Thigh
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24
5.2 Shank
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25
5.3 Toe
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26
5.4 Bearings
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 27
5.5 Springs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------27
5.6 Body
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------28
5.7 Assembling
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29
6. Second Model
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30
7. Bibliography
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31

INTRODUCTION
Why Study Legged Robots?
5

This report is about the machines that use legs to run. The purpose of these
machines is to Study the principles of legged locomotion. Such principles can help
us to understand animal locomotion and to build useful legged vehicles.

There are three main reasons for exploring the use of legs for locomotion. First
reason is the Study of the mobility in difficult terrain.Todays vehicles use wheels to
move, and wheels can provide motion only on prepared surfaces, such as rails and
roads. However, most of places have not been paved. It seems possible to build
vehicles which use legs like animals for locomotion.
The second reason to study legged machines is to understand human and animal
locomotion. The principles of control which is used in human and animal locomotion
is still not understood. One way to learn more about plausible mechanisms for
animal locomotion is to build machines that locomote using legs.
The third reason which motivated the study of legged locomotion is the need to
build artificial legs for amputees. For below, knee amputee and above-knee
prostheses some practical feet have been built, but there is still a long way to find
appropriate mechanisms which can be substitute the real organs.

Background
Before introducing the main topic, we turn briefly an account of previous work on
legged Machines. The scientific study of legged locomotion began just over a
century ago when

Muybridge

studied

the

trotting

motion

of

a horse.His

photographic data are still of considerable value and survive as a landmark in

locomotion research.
During the ninety years that followed, the field viewed that of building walking
machines as the task of designing kinematic linkages that would generate suitable
stepping motion. However by the late 1950s it had become clear that a linkage
providing fixed motion would Not do the trick of walking or running, and useful
walking machines would need control.

Introduction
One approach to control was to harness human. Mosher used this approach in
building a four legged walking truck. Another approach is the use of digital
computer for control. McGhees group was the first to use this approach
successfully.They built an insect-like Hexaped that could walk with a number of
standard gaits, turn, crab, and negotiate simple obstacles.
Gurnfinkel and his group built a machine quite similar to Mc Ghees which used
analog computer (hybrid) for control. Hirose designed clever and unusual
mechanisms to simplify The control of locomotion and improve their efficiency.
McGhee, Gurfinkel, and Hiroses walking machine groups represent a class called
Static Crawlers. Several other machines that fall into this class have been studied in
the intervening years.
Another class turned to the study of dynamic machines that balance actively.
Shannon was probably the first to build a machines that balanced an inverted
pendulum in top of a Small powered truck.This study forwarded by his students to
demonstrate controllers for Two pendulums at once, and finally the case that two
pendulums were mounted on top of Each other Later, they extended these
techniques to provide balance for aflexible inverted Pendulum. Miura and
Shimoyama built the first walking machine that really Balanced actively. The control
of their biped relied on an inverted pendulum model Matsuoka was the first to build
a machine that was able to hop on one leg. The field of dynamically stable legged
locomotion has made great strides in the past decade, led primarily by Marc
Raibert. He built a variety of running robots, starting with a Planar one legged
machine.

Followed by a 3D one legged, a two legged planar robot, and a four,

legged quadruped.His latest robots include a 3D two-legged robot. where each leg
has four actuated degrees of freedom. Except for the very first one legged planar
hopper, Which was pneumatically actuated, his subsequent designs are actuated by
powerful hydraulic actuators and rely on pneumatics for the leg spring only.
Papantoniou designed an electrically powered planar robot, capable of operating at
maximum speed of 0.3 m/s. In order to obtain that, an original mechanical design of
an articulated leg and leg attitude Control has been realized.

Objective:
Objective of this project is aim to produce low cost Hopping Robot with one leg that
is capable to hope over uneven terrain.

Scope of project:
This project is to design a simple and build a simple control of the hopping robot
that has a single leg so hopping is only way it can use. The hopping Robot is just like
a prototype. The characteristic of this robot is the leg use spring so that it can be
compressed between one step and next to add energy

Problem Statement:
When a human learn to walk, there is a long process of trial and error. The baby
tries a behavior, and the result modify further attempts. In developing this robot, a
similar procedure takes place. A behavior is planned and attempts are made, so
observation is used to modify the software to achieve the behavior desire. The
human experiments are learning loop for the robot.

What is hopping?
Let Consider what might define hopping. Consider the simplest hopping
machine, if ball is dropped, it will fall to the ground, compress, and spring upward
again. If the ball is moving forward, it will remain moving forward. This can be
related that the kinetic energy associated with its forward velocity is unchanged , if
the ball is ideal, there will be no more energy lost, and it will bounce to the same
height from which it was dropped. The chief features of this hopping machine are
that the vertical velocity reverses direction at impact, and that the energy of falling
into a potential energy of elastic deformation and back.
If consider a slightly more complicated machine, we can get an idealized hopper. It
consists of mass at one end of telescoping leg, which is two part leg with sliding

joint, which has compressive spring inside and a toe on the end, if the hopper is
dropped straight down, and the toe is directly under the centre of mass (COM), it
will bounce very similarly to the ball, likes the kinetic energy of the body will be
absorbed by the spring and released, the vertical velocity will have reversed
direction, and the horizontal will still be zero. This assumes a highly ideal operation,
with the mass exactly over the toe, since the leg is an inherently unstable inverted
pendulum. If the hopper is moving forward as it fall the horizontal kinetic energy
can be absorbed and released similarly to the ball. For this to work, the leg must be
positioned forward at landing at a position such that it will be at a symmetric
position at lit off, which will maintain from the lift off position, which requires
applying torques that will rotates the body. Our solution will rotates the body. Our
solution to this problem is include a tail to counter balance the leg motion.

DIFFERENT LEG HOPPERS

1. MONOPAD
2. PLANAR ONE LEG-HOPPER
3. 3D ONE LEG HOPPER
9

4. UNIROO
5. ROBO

MONOPAD

The Monopod is a planar, single legged robot. The Monopod's distinguishing feature
is its use of an articulated, rather than a telescoping leg found in previous robots.
Additionally, the leg terminates in a leaf spring unlike the air springs of the other
running robots. The Monopod was used to investigate the use of articulated legs
that use rotary joints. Ultimately, the Monopod ran at a maximum speed of 2.3
m/s(5.1 mph) averaged over 16 m.
Articulated legs offer mechanical advantages, such as lower moment of inertia, less
unsprung mass, larger range of motion, greater compactness, better ruggedness,
and ease of construction. However, articulated legs also have added kinematic
10

complexity and coupling between degrees of freedom. This coupling is evident from
the fact that displacements of the two joints do not in general cause orthogonal
displacements of the toe or hip.
We believe that articulated legs, those that use rotary joints, can be designed to be
stronger, lighter, faster, and more reliable than the telescoping legs used on
previous running machines, one hurdle is to incorporate the elastic storage
elements vital to good dynamic behavior, without making the leg too difficult to
control. The tests we have done show that it performs quite well as part of a planar
hopping machine, though its asymmetry and high natural frequency pose new
locomotion control problems.

PLANAR ONE LEG- HOPPER

The Planar One-Leg Hopper was built to explore active balance and dynamic
stability in legged locomotion. The machine has one leg that changes length and
pivots with respect to the body. The body carries sensors, interface electronics, and
the hip actuators. The machine was powered by pneumatics.

11

Experiments with the Planar One-Leg Hopper showed that balance could be
achieved with a simple control system. The control system has three separate parts:
one controlling forward running speed, one controlling body attitude, and one
controlling hopping height. These controllers worked independently, treating any
coupling as disturbances.
The control system for the Planar One-Leg Hopper did not explicitely program a
stepping motion, but allowed the stepping motion to emerge under the constraints
of balance and controlled travel. The Planar One-Leg Hopper hopped in place,
travelled at specified rates, and maintained balance when disturbed. The simple
techniques used for planar one-leg hopper were later generalized for 3D one-leg
hopping, bipedal running, and quadruped trotting, pacing, and bounding.

3D ONE LEG HOPPER

The 3D One-Leg Hopper was built

for experiments on active balance and dynamic in legged locomotion. The machine
has a leg that changes length, a body that carries sensors and interface electronics,
and an actuated 2-axis hip. The hip is powered by hydraulics and the leg by
compressed air. The machine has an overall height of 43.5 inches (l.l0 m) and a
mass of 38 lbs. (l7.3 kg).
12

There were four reasons to build a 3D machine with only one leg. First, it is simpler
to study balance a machine with one leg, because it eliminates the difficult task of
coupling the behavior of several legs. Second, it forces one to focus on balance,
because a one legged system has no other way to stand up. Third, the behavior and
control of a one-legged device could be used as the corner-stone for each leg of
multi-legged systems.
Fourth, a one legged system has the minimum equipment. Less equipment means
less construction time, less down time due to mechanical failure, and more reliable
operation. Experiments with the 3D One-Leg Hopper showed that balance can be
achieved with a simple control system. The control system has three separate parts:
one controlling forward running speed, one controlling body attitude, and one
controlling hopping height.
The 3D One-Leg Hopper hopped in place, travelled at a specified rate, followed
simple paths, and maintained balance when disturbed. Top recorded running speed
was 2.2 m/sec (4.8 mph). The 3D control algorithms were generalizations of those
used earlier in 2D, with little additional complication.

UNIROO
The Uniroo robot is kinematically similar to a real kangaroo of mass 6.6 kg. The
Uniroo consists of a body, a three-joint (hip, knee, ankle) articulated leg, and a
single degree-of-freedom tail. The body is a bolted framework of aluminum struts,
and the leg is composed of welded aluminum tubes. Hydraulic actuators control
each joint. A steel coil spring at the ankle stores elastic energy during stance.

13

The Uniroo differ from the previous robots in four important respects. The Uniroo is
not symmetric, the leg is articulated instead of telescoping, the hip is offset from
the center of mass, and the leg is relatively heavy (one-third the mass of the body).
Because of the asymmetry, the ground forces during stance effects the body pitch.
A massive leg also affects the body pitch as the leg is swept forward during flight.
Finally, the kinematic redundancy of the leg must be addressed.
Work with the Uniroo showed that it is possible to control the balance of legged
robots that have a non-symmetrical mechanical structure. Regulation of angular
momentum allowed the Uniroo robot to hop in a range of forward velocities from 0
to 1.8m/s for at least a minute. Although nothing proves that a steadily null angular
momentum is part of an optimal hopping strategy, we observed that a small angular
momentum is a characteristic of ``smooth'' hopping and underlies a very natural
motion.

ROBOP
Robop is a self-stabilizing hopping robot built in 1996. It has no active electronic
sensors to use for feedback. The robot is self-stabilizing in that when the leg is
driven in a proper feed-forward periodic motion, the physics of the robot has

14

inherent dynamic stability. It is stable in hopping height and pitch and entrains to
the driving frequency.
The unique feature which allows Robop to maintain dynamic stability is the
curvature in the foot. This required curvature is a function of the robot's inertial
properties and leg spring constant.
Although Robop is now retired from active research, it is still functional and is
capable of being demonstrated.

SOLIDWORKS
SolidWorks is a 3D mechanical CAD (computer-aided design) program that runs on
Microsoft Windows and is being developed by Dassault Systems SolidWorks Corp., a
subsidiary of Dassault Systems, S. A. (Velizy, France). SolidWorks is currently used
by over 1.3 million engineers and designers at more than 130,000 companies
worldwide
The SolidWorks application is mechanical design automation software that takes
advantage of the familiar Microsoft Windows graphical user interface.
This easy-to-learn tool makes it possible for mechanical designers to quickly sketch
ideas, experiment with features and dimensions, and produce models and detailed
drawings.

Sketch:
When you open a new part document, first you create a sketch. The sketch is the
basis for a 3D model. You can create a sketch on any of the default planes (Front
Plane, Top Plane, and Right Plane), or a created plane. You can start by selecting:
Sketch entity tools (line, circle, and so on)
Sketch tool
Planes

15

Parts:
After opening a part document you can create a sketch by using different shapes in
different dimensions as required by selecting the planes in sketch mode. You can
start by selecting
Rectangle/Circle as required.
Select the point in the region and draw required shape.
Dimension it.
Extruded Boss/Revolved Boss.
The Extrude Property Manager appears in the Feature Manager design tree (left
panel), the view of the sketch changes to trimetric, and a preview of the extrusion
appears in the graphics area.
Click ok and save it.

16

17

Assemblies:
You can build complex assemblies consisting of many components, which can be
parts or other assemblies, called sub-assemblies. For most operations, the
behaviour of components is the same for both types. Adding a component to an
assembly creates a link between the assembly and the component. When
SolidWorks opens the assembly, it finds the component file to show it in the
assembly. Changes in the component are automatically reflected in the assembly.
The document name extension for assemblies is .sldasm.
To create an assembly from a part:
1. Click Make Assembly from Part/Assembly (Standard toolbar) or File, Make
Assembly from Part.

An assembly opens with the Insert Component Property

Manager active.
8. Click in the graphics area to add the part to the assembly. SolidWorks makes
the first component fixed.
The following topics describe the basics of creating an assembly from components
you have already built and general information about working with assemblies.
Design method
Adding assembly component
Selecting Components
Mates
Working with sub-assemblies
Simplifying large assemblies
Exploding an assembly view
Customizing the appearance of an assembly
Smart Fasteners
Bills of materials in assembly documents

18

Fixing the Position of a Component

You can fix the position of a component so that it cannot move with respect to the
assembly origin. By default, the first part in an assembly is fixed; however, you can
float it at any time.
It is recommended that at least one assembly component is either fixed, or mated
to the assembly planes or origin. This gives a frame of reference for all other mates,
and helps prevent unexpected movement of components when mates are added.
A fixed component has a (f) before its name in the Feature Manager design tree.
A floating, under defined component has a (-) before its name in the Feature
Manager design tree.

19

A fully defined component does not have a prefix.

Mate:
Mates create geometric relationships between assembly components. As you add
mates, you define the allowable directions of linear or rotational motion of the
components. You can move a component within its degrees of freedom, visualizing
the assembly's behaviour.
Some examples include:
A coincident mate forces two planar faces to become coplanar. The faces can move
along one another, but cannot be pulled apart.
A concentric mate forces two cylindrical faces to become concentric. The faces
can move along the common axis, but cannot be moved away from this axis.
Mates are solved together as a system. The order in which you add mates does not
matter; all mates are solved at the same time. You can suppress mates just as you
can suppress features.

Other topics about mates include:

Adding Mates
Mate Property Manager
Smart Mates
Best Practices for Mates
Solving Mate Problems
Advanced mates, including:
Limit Mates
Path
Linear/Linear Coupler
Symmetric
20

Width
Mechanical mates, including:
Cam
Gear
Hinge
Rack and Pinion
Screw
Universal Joint

Types of Mates
* Angle Mate
* Coincident Mate
* Concentric Mate
* Distance Mate
* Lock Mate
* Parallel and Perpendicular Mates
* Tangent Mate
* Advanced Mates
* Mechanical Mates

Simulation: SolidWorks Simulation is a design analysis system fully integrated

with SolidWorks. SolidWorks Simulation provides one screen solution for stress,
frequency, buckling, thermal, and optimization analyses. Powered by fast solvers,
SolidWorks Simulation enables you to solve large problems quickly using your
personal computer. SolidWorks Simulation comes in several bundles to satisfy your
analysis needs.
SolidWorks Simulation shortens time to market by saving time and effort in
searching for the optimum.
The Simulation toolbar provides you with shortcuts to frequently used operations.
You can customize the toolbar by adding buttons, hiding them, or moving them
around. The behaviour is identical to SolidWorks toolbars.

21

Additionally you can use the Simulation Command Manager. The program makes
buttons available based on the status and type of analysis study. For example,
Thermal is available in the Result Tools flyout toolbar only after running a thermal
study.
The Simulation toolbar includes the following categories:
Main
Fixtures/External Loads
Thermal Loads
Result Tools
List Results Tools
Fatigue
Trend Tracker
Dynamics

Design Model:
The several design solutions needed to make an articulated leg springy and
attaching a spring to each joint is good option.
The two active joints are the hip and shank. The main
important thing of this model is the arrangement of the leg spring, it is attached
between thigh and shank which is inclined to the shank. The springs can be
replaced by hydraulic servo between thigh and heel.
The most distinctive feature of this model is the arrangement of the leg spring. The
leg spring is attached between the thigh and shank inclined to the shank.
The two important effects during hopping are :
During Stance
During Flight
During stance holding the shank enables the leg spring to absorb
a large impulse at touch down and to transfer its kinetic energy to potential energy
for the next stride.

22

During Flight, the spring constitutes a member of the parallel fourbar linkage, compressive force to the spring is not so large at the duration
consequently, it enables passive retraction and extension of the leg, provided the
inertia of the links is chosen approximately.

Phases and events:

In general, legged robots are event-driven intermittent dynamical systems. The
change dynamical characteristics depending on leg conditions, whether or not legs
are on the ground. For instance, legged robots are often modeled as a manipulator
when one leg is on the ground, a closed- chain mechanism when more than one leg
is on the ground. Those conditions are called phases in the field of legged
locomotion. Stance phase is a phase in which at least one leg is on the ground and
the leg supports the body and propels the body to keep the locomotion. Some
researchers call it double stance phase if two legs of a multi legged robot are
simultaneously on the ground. In the field of physiology, some researchers call it
ground contact phase, instead. Flight phase is a phase that no leg is on the ground
and the whole body is in the air. Some call it aerial phase, instead.
In the case of our one-legged hopping robot, there are only two conditions for state
change: either the leg is on the ground or it is not. If the leg is on the ground, it is
called stance phase. If the leg is off the ground , it is called flight phase. The phase
transitions are driven by two events touchdown and lift-off. Touchdown happens as
an event from flight into stance. Lift-off occurs from stance into flight. The robot
repeats the cycle of shifting phases and keeps it as long as it is stable. As a result, a
one-legged hopping robot must be in either of these two phases, and its phase
determines the dynamical characteristics of the robot.

23

The figure shows the cycle of the two phases with the two phase transition events.
It is seen that phases shift through events. This is the simplest state machine and is
used as the locomotion control scheme for simulation and experiment.

Dynamics of the Model:

The Controlled Variables are (x,z,pi) the forward speed, vertical speed and attitude
of the body in the sagittal plane. The virtual leg length r and angle theta, which are
used in the control at flight, are also defined in the figure. Control inputs i1 and i2,
the input currents to the hip actuator and knee actuator respectively.
Firstly Passive dynamics of free fall are investigated. The robot is set to the nominal
configuration in which the foot is below the CM, and the both control inputs are set
to zero(i1=0, i2=0). Then the following behaviour was observed
(a) At the instant of touchdown, a large impulsive ground force makes the body
pitch forward suddenly.
(b) From touchdown to the bottom, the body pitches forward (pi<0) because of
the negative reaction moment.
(c) After maximum extension of the leg spring, the body pitches backward
(pi>0).
(d) When the vertical reaction force becomes zero, the robot lifts off with positive
angular momentum.

24

Next, actuated dynamics were investigated because these are the basis for control
actions, which are selected according to the system state. Here , the robot is set to
the nominal configuration, with its foot contacting the ground. Then, the constant
inputs are fed to one actuator.
(e) If extending the hip actuator with the knee fixed (i1>0 and i2=0), the leg
spring is extended and backward body pitching (pi>0) occurs.
(f) If extending the knee actuator with the hip fixed (i2>0 and i1=0), the leg
spring is extended and forward pitching (pi<0) occurs.
(g) If shortening the hip actuator with the knee fixed( i1<0 and i2=0), the spring
buckles(of course this is not allowed).
(h) If shortening the knee actuator with the hip fixed (i2<0 and i1=0),
undesirable oscillation and chattering occurs.
Although there are some quantitative differences

from

the

initial

configuration and the amount of the inputs, the qualitative behaviour is

identical.

Control during the stance phase:

The hip actuator controls body pitch by a feedback law, which is executed only
when the pitch angle is lower than the specified value, while the knee actuator
controls vertical speed and also suppresses the backward body pitch by giving a
constant input, which is exerted only when maximum spring extension occurs.

Control during the flight phase:

25

During flight, the robot swings the leg to prepare for the next touchdown. It also
retracts and extends the leg to reduce inertia for fast leg swinging and prevent
stubbing against the ground. Note that the touch down angle (foot placement) of
the leg is critical to gait stability for robots that cannot change their leg lengths
arbitrarily and have no actuator at their foot.
Although it has a knee actuator at its foot, it has a knee actuator that can be used
to control its leg length. However, the knee actuator has already been used for
vertical speed control. Hence, the touchdown leg angle was used for forward speed
control.

Main Parts:
The Design of hopping robot mainly includes different parts to assemble
They are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Thigh
Shank
Foot
Bearings
Springs
Body.
These are the main parts include in this design of leg

Thigh:
It is one of the important part of the system which connects the system body and
knee to the edges of the thigh. The length of the thigh is of 25 cms, width is 4cms
and depth is 50 cms and it has some spherical connecting position at the edges of
the thigh to fit the bearings in as shown in the figure.
To move the slider there is a path of 20 cms to slide down the link over the way
which connects the thigh and shank to control over the system. A damper is fixed at
one end of the thigh so that the link can enter into the damper and it can enable the
smooth stoppage of the system

Locking system
26

The main importance of the usage of spring lock mechanism is to store energy for a
while and to release the energy with respect to spring .The main components
involved in this system are link, Dumper and locking system.
When the force exerted on the spring through the body the spring start compress
and in the mean while link gets expanded to the max extent and get locked at the
locking point.
Now the spring is at the position of compression and the link is locked at maximum
point to retrieve the energy from the spring the link is unlocked at max extent and
comes to minimum point in the sliding link mechanism. When the link is unlocked it
slowly releases the position of locking to unlocking and transfers energy through
spring from shank to thighs.
The length of the spring compression should be equal to the length of the minimum
point of link to the maximum point so that it can equalizes the momentum in the
body. Damper will be linked at the locking position to smooth stoppage of shank
force to the link and spring.
The design of thigh is as shown in the figure.

27

Shank:
Shank is also designed in the same module of thigh to assemble with thigh and
there is a holder at one end of the shank to connect the slider to thigh. Length of
the shank is same as thigh is around 25 cms and the width is 4 cms and depth is
30cms. The two cylindrical rods are extended at side thigh contact with bearings.

28

Foot:

29

The foot is designed in the view of humanoid foot so that it is divided into two parts
front part and back part. The back part is connected to the shank directly it has
some elongation produced towards front part as it maintains the stress on the foot.
The spring was placed in middle of the two parts so that it can balance and
smoothen the foot.

Bearings:

Bearings play key role in the moment of the system. They are placed between the
links of shank & thigh, shank & ankle and body & thigh. Same type of bearings was
used in the three places and the dimensions of the system are as radius of the
bearing is around 14.5 cms and minimum radius is around 4.5cms.

Springs:
Springs play the main role in the system. The leg spring was the key for the whole
structure and its spring constant value cannot be easily specified if only the
maximum and minimum boundaries are known.

30

Body:
It was connected on the top of the thigh end through bearings and connector

Assembling: The whole parts get at their positions and assemble them by
aligning and mating them simulate it to determine the momentum of the system.
As Shown in figure above the slider moves the thigh in the axis of the link and the
body connects on the one end of the thigh and we can find a spring connected at
the toe is to regulate the force acting on the toe. Two bearings was connected at the
joint to have a smooth condition of the toe moment because they dont have a
actuator to control over there.

31

Second Model:
The second model was also same to the first but there is a difference in the
designing of the damper and sliding momentum. There were two cylinders which
one can move into another so that one can damper into another there was a
damper at the end with locking system and having a small orifice let to go off air at
that position. The spring was covered on the outside of the two cylinders so that it
can engage

through the expansion and contraction of the system. When the

system is at expansion it takes air from atmosphere and it releases air from orifices,
it get damp at the end of the way to smooth stoppage of the system.

32

33

Bibliography:
1. Department of Mechatronics and Precision
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University,
Aramaki-Aza-Aobo 01, Aobaku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan
2. Modified Raibert controller (http://www.cim.mcgill.ca/arlweb/).
3. Faculty of Electrical Engineering University technical Malaysia Melaka.
4. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1999, pp. 16891694.

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