Dynamic Modeling and Nonlinear Position Control of a Quadruped Robot with Theo Jansen Linkage Mechanisms and a Single Actuator

Abstract EN

The Theo Jansen mechanism is gaining widespread popularity among the legged robotics community due to its scalable design, energy efficiency, low payload-to-machine-load ratio, bioinspired locomotion, and deterministic foot trajectory.

In this paper, we perform for the first time the dynamic modeling and analysis on a four-legged robot driven by a single actuator and composed of Theo Jansen mechanisms.

The projection method is applied to derive the equations of motion of this complex mechanical system and a position control strategy based on energy is proposed.

Numerical simulations validate the efficacy of the designed controller, thus setting a theoretical basis for further investigations on Theo Jansen based quadruped robots.