In this paper, we develop a design method of nonlinear profile of gear ratio to utilize a DC servo motor effectively for a jumping robot. Because the larger ground force yields the higher kinetic energy of the robot body, the optimal gear ratio is obtained by the maximization of the ground force from statics point of view. Moreover, the varying gear ratio during the jump motion is obtained through a simulation which connects statics-based optimization and robot dynamics. A noncircular gear is synthesized which realizes the obtained optimal varying gear ratio. The effectiveness of the proposed method is evaluated by simulations.

For the effective use of motor power, an appropriate gear ratio has to be selected according to the robot task and motion. Because a jumping robot, in particular, requires both high torque and high velocity properties through the motion, a varying gear ratio is necessary. Moreover, it has to be optimally designed and realized. In this paper, we design a jumping robot with a non-circular gear that changes the gear ratio through the motion for the higher jumping. Based on statics, the gear ratio is optimized and change of the gear ratio is obtained by a simulation-based design considering the robot dynamics. So far, we have developed a design method of no-circular gear, and its effectiveness was evaluated by simulation. In this paper, a jumping robot is prototyped, and the effectiveness is evaluated by experiment containing the robustness for the perturbation of robot parameters.

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