Engineering Commons^™

Modeling And Control Of A Vertical Hopping Robot, Bradley Y. Kwan

Master's Theses

Single degree-of-freedom hopping robots are typically modeled as spring loaded inverted pendulums (SLIPs). This simplified model, however, does not consider the overall leg geometry, consequently making it difficult to investigate the optimized inertial distribution of the leg for agile locomotion. To address this issue, the first part of this thesis establishes an accurate mathematical model of a DC-motor-driven, two-link hopping robot where the motors are modeled as torque sources. The equations of motion for the two distinct phases of locomotion (stance and flight) are derived using the Lagrangian approach for holonomic systems. A Simulink/Stateflow model is developed to numerically simulate …