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The design of a walking machine augmented with a one-degree-of-freedom leg mechanism is presented. This walking machine is capable of walking on various terrains with only three actuators. Unlike other existing leg mechanisms, the leg mechanism developed here generates a ⌬-shaped foot path with a sufficient height for the walking machine to step over obstacles or to climb stairs. The design of such a leg mechanism is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem. Optimization results show that a dramatic reduction in the mechanism size and a moderate reduction in the actuating torque from the preliminary design can be accomplished.

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In this paper, the design of a two degree-of-freedom leg mechanism is accomplished by a two-stage optimization process. In the first stage, leg dimensions are optimized with respect to three design objectives: minimize (i) peak crank torque for an entire walking cycle, (ii) leg size, and (iii) vertical actuating force. Following the optimization of leg dimensions, in the second stage, spring elements with various placement configurations are considered for further reduction of the actuating force and crank torque. Several tradeoff solutions are obtained and a comparison between various spring configurations is made. It is shown that the inclusion of spring elements can significantly reduce the actuating force and crank torque.

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