This paper presents an integrated, systems level view of several novel design and control features associated with the biologically-inspired, hexapedal, RiSE robot. RiSE is the first legged machine capable of locomotion on both the ground and a variety of vertical building surfaces including brick, stucco, and crushed stone at speeds up to 4 cm/s, quietly and without the use of suction, magnets, or adhesives. It achieves these capabilities through a combination of bio-inspired and traditional design methods. This paper describes the design process and specifically addresses body morphology, hierarchical compliance in the legs and feet, and sensing and control systems that enable robust and reliable climbing on difficult surfaces. Experimental results illustrate the effects of various behaviors on climbing performance and demonstrate the robot's ability to climb reliably for long distances.

In this paper we generate gaits for two types of underactuated mechanical systems: principally kinematic and purely mechanical systems. Our goal is to specify inputs in the form of gaits, that is, a sequence of controlled shape changes of a multi-bodied mechanical system that when executed would produce a desired change in the unactuated position or orientation variables of the entire mechanical system. In other words, we want to indirectly control the unactuated degrees of freedom of the mechanical system utilizing a controlled "internal" shape change. More precisely, in this paper we develop a gait evaluation tool which easily measures the change of position, computed in a body-attached coordinate frame, due to any closed curve in the shape space. This evaluation tool is simple enough that we can use it to generate gaits or to design curves that move the mechanical system along a desired direction. Finally, we verify that this gait analysis technique applies to two seemingly different classes of mechanical systems, purely mechanical and principally kinematic systems, and unify the gait generation problem for both classes.

Exact cellular decompositions represent a robot's free space by dividing it into regions with simple structure such that the sum of the regions fills the free space. These decompositions have been widely used for path planning between two points, but can be used for mapping and coverage of free spaces. In this paper, we define exact cellular decompositions where critical points of Morse functions indicate the location of cell boundaries. Morse functions are those whose critical points are non-degenerate. Between critical points, the structure of a space is effectively the same, so simple control strategies to achieve tasks, such as coverage, are feasible within each cell. This allows us to introduce a general framework for coverage tasks because varying the Morse function has the effect of changing the pattern by which a robot covers its free space. In this paper, we give examples of different Morse functions and comment on their corresponding tasks. In a companion paper, we describe the sensor-based algorithm that constructs the decomposition.

Running is a complex dynamical task which places strict design requirements on both the physical components and software control systems of a robot. This paper explores some of those requirements and illustrates how a variable compliance actuation system can satisfy them. We present the design, analysis, simulation, and benchtop experimental validation of such an actuator system. We demonstrate, through simulation, the application of our prototype actuator to the problem of biped running.

BigDog is a four legged robot with exceptional rough-terrain mobility. In this paper, we equip BigDog with a laser scanner, stereo vision system, and perception and navigation algorithms. Using these sensors and algorithms, BigDog performs autonomous navigation to goal positions in unstructured forest environments. The robot perceives obstacles, such as trees, boulders, and ground features, and steers to avoid them on its way to the goal. We describe the hardware and software implementation of the navigation system and summarize performance. During field tests in unstructured wooded terrain, BigDog reached its goal position 23 of 26 runs and traveled over 130 meters at a time without operator involvement.