Optimized non-reciprocating legged gait for an eccentric paddle mechanism

To reduce the influence of gear backlash, a novel gait named non-reciprocating legged gait for the eccentric paddle (ePaddle) mechanism has been proposed in our previous study. In the gait, all the actuators rotated in one direction without the reciprocating. Based on force analysis of the supporting paddle, this work found that the locomotion performance of the mechanism can be further improved by keeping the supporting paddle vertical for a longer time of the supporting phase. Thus, vertical parameter which denotes the time rate of vertical state to supporting phase is proposed for gait planning. The experiments are performed to verify the validity of the proposed optimized non-reciprocating legged gait, and to identify the effects of the locomotion velocity, period, and vertical parameter on output torque and power of the mechanism. It can be found that comparing with the non-reciprocating legged gait, the locomotion performance of the mechanism is significantly improved by the optimized gait.