Locust-inspired jumping robot with the initial jumping posture control

To improve the jumping performance, this paper presents a locust-inspired jumping robot with initial body posture adjustment and self-righting mechanisms. A segmental gear, stretching and triggering the spring for storage and rapid release of energy, is used for the jumping mechanism. A pair of front legs driven by an additional motor is used for the initial body posture adjustment. Furthermore, a pole leg is added to the jumping legs to perform the self-righting mechanism. Therefore, the robot can recover its body from the upside down posture on the ground and simultaneously recover the jumping legs and store energy. Experimental results indicate that the jumping robot with the size of 12 cm × 8 cm × 2.9 cm and 300 g weight can jump across the obstacle with the controlled trajectory. The initial body posture can range from 0 deg to 60 deg and will up to 90 deg when stretch the length of forelegs. Furthermore, the robot can recover its body posture on the ground and store the energy for the second jump within 3 s. Our work may provide reference for the further researches of taking-off posture control mechanisms.