Design and Research of a Flexible Foot for a Multi-Foot Bionic Robot

Abstract

To solve the problems of large landing impact, vibration, and poor adaptability to complex ground surfaces in the motion of a foot-type robot, a two-degree-of-freedom flexible foot-end structure was proposed and designed in this study. The effects of flexible materials, flexible parameters, and structural forms on the performance of the foot end have been discussed. Through simulation and experimentation, the parameter analysis and mechanical calibration of the foot end were completed, and a motion experiment of the flexible foot robot was designed. The simulation and experimental results showed that the flexible foot-end structure has uniform and reliable force and can effectively reduce the foot impact. Compared with the rigid foot, the foot-end force of the flexible foot was only 1/3 of the contact force, the peak foot pressure decreased by 59%, the motion stability increased by 37.4%, and the error of force perception was controlled at 11%. The flexible foot structure improved the stability of the robot motion process, reduced the vibration, provided the robot with good terrain adaptability, and achieved omnidirectional motion of the robot.

Keywords

• multi-legged robot
• flexible feet
• omnidirectional locomotion
• foot-ground impact
• foot calibration