Design of a Two DOF Laminate Leg Transmission for Creating Walking Robot Platforms

In this article we present a low-cost, two degree-of-freedom laminate robot transmission for legged locomotion applications. This transmission is specifically applied in the design of a quadrupedal robot, and has the potential to be used in other multi-legged systems. It offers a complex control space with a variety of different programmable gait trajectories, while leveraging low-cost linkages made using laminate approaches. The two-degree-of-freedom kinematics of the leg are subsequently modeled in Python, and the workspace of the robot is then experimentally verified on an initial quadrupedal design. Critical design considerations include the laminate design, the rigidity of the materials that make up the laminate, and the range of motion the device can undergo.