Walking machine position and force control

An extension to the normal functions of a walking robot is introduced. A multi-function leg which serves the walking vehicle as a leg for propulsion, sensor probe for exploratory work as well as for pick and place function is being developed. The leg has been designed with a large leg lift and swing angle to perform these additional tasks. The goal of present works is to develop a small autonomous device. Implementation of a simple force and position control algorithm is described. The functional structure of the walking machine's control system is decomposed into hierarchically related levels (soft hierarchical structure).