Design and Simulation of a Low-Inertia Bionic Leg for Quadruped Robots

B81-inspired legs are significant components with prominent impact on the property of quadruped robots. A new type of mechanical leg is designed with the characteristic of concentrate-driving. Actuating devices of new concentrate-driving legs fixed on hip with synchronous belt drive and crossing axis mechanism can make the centroid of the leg upward and reduce rotational inertia. The working space and the bioinspired moving trajectory are calculated by kinematic model. And then the joint torque and joint power are calculated by establishing Lagrangian dynamic equations of robotics and inverse dynamics algorithm. By simulating the swing progress of the concentrate-driving leg and distribute-driving leg through the virtual prototype technology, the joint torque and joint power of the two kinds of legs are compared. Finally the superiorities of the new concentrate-driving leg are confirmed. It is shown that the new mechanical design with dynamic analysis can promote the engineering application of quadruped robots.