The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Gait development for use in dynamic gait optimization of qudrupedrobot walking
Author:	Will, Mark
View Online:	njit-etd2000-093 (xii, 38 pages ~ 4.6 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Mechanical Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Mechanical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Recce, Michael (Committee chair) Ji, Zhiming (Committee member) Patel, Bhaven (Committee member)
Date:	2000-05
Keywords:	Robotics. Artificial intelligence. Combinatorial optimization.
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	The ability of walking robots to operate in areas that are inaccessible to wheeled robots has lead to significant research in the field of gait development and optimization for these robots. In this particular study, a catalog of gaits for use in a dynamic gait optimization system to optimize the walking speed of the quadruped Arturo robot on flat terrain is developed. This catalog of robot gaits was developed using a genetic algorithm formulation; various combinations of the selection, mutation, and crossover operators were analyzed. The Arturo robot was modified so that physical verification of the developed gaits could be carried out. The performance of several gaits was analyzed to determine both robot performance and suitability of the gait for use in a dynamic gait optimization system. The feasibility of using solely the position feedback from the joints for surface determination was examined. Piezoelectric crystals (Leybold Inficon 6 Mhz oscillators) were also examined for this application.