SphereWalker: A Hexapod Walking Machine

Abstract

This article describes the design and the development of a novel six-legged robotic walking machine named SphereWalker. The six legs are arranged into pairs, and each pair of legs is supported and actuated by a single spherical four-bar mechanism. Two of the four-bar mechanisms are operated in a synchronous fashion, while the middle one is operated at 180 deg out of phase with respect to the other two. A physical prototype has been built, a digital twin has been generated, an actuation and control system has been designed, and the technology has been patented.