OpenMutt: A reconfigurable quadruped robot for research and education

With biped and quadruped robots becoming more prevalent in society, there is a strong push for universities to update their robotics curriculum to teach students how to design, build, and program legged robotic systems. One of the challenges associated with developing legged robotics curriculum is finding opportunities for students to engage in hands-on legged robotic activities that complement theory and enhance the overall learning process. This challenge is particularly evident at smaller universities or universities with limited research budgets where the cost of purchasing a quadruped platform can be prohibitive. With the recent release of several open-source quadruped robot designs, there is now an opportunity to incorporate quadruped platforms into more university classrooms. This paper outlines our approach to modifying one of these open-source designs to support our department's education, outreach, and research goals. The development of our modified, opensource quadruped platform (OpenMutt) was conducted under the auspices of a capstone mechanical engineering design project to demonstrate how the platform builds on existing curriculum and to identify areas where additional robotic instruction may be warranted. Our results indicate that it is possible to use capstone engineering design projects to identify and address potential gaps in existing curriculum.