Standing posture control for a low-cost commercially available hexapod robot

Abstract

Posture control is one of the fundamental requirements for legged robots to achieve mobility on uneven terrain. Most of the research on posture control is conducted on custom designed robot platforms, which are much more expensive than their commercially available counterparts. This paper presents the implementation of a standing posture control system on a low-cost, commercially available hexapod robot platform. The Virtual Model Control (VMC) strategy is implemented, along with a simple method for foot force distribution and a direct force control method that can be used with position control of low-cost joint actuators. The controller was experimentally tested on level and uneven terrain, as well as on a dynamic balance board. Ground truth measurements of the tests revealed that the results compared favorably to those obtained on more expensive, custom designed platforms.