Gait Generation and Control of a Hexapod Walking Robot

In this paper, the mechanical structure of a hexapod walking robot is presented and the kinematic model is established. The foot trajectory of each leg, which is optimized by genetic algorithms to minimize energetic cost, was proposed with two different gait patterns applied. Control system was divided into coordination-layer and execution-layer. Coordination-layer, was a PC responsible, for whole system’s regulation. It could calculate each joint’s expected trajectory according to user’s definitions, and then transmitted object position data to execution-layer through serial port. The execution-layer used LPC2132 based on ARM7 for core controller. Control system realized the human-machine interaction, gait generation, complex kinematic calculation and servomotor control. Experimental results of the robot shows that it could walk smoothly without obvious body undulation.