11 accepted papers
Legged robots have the potential to become vital in maintenance, home support, and exploration scenarios. In order to interact with and manipulate their environments, most legged robots are equipped with a dedicated robot arm, which means additional mass and mechanical complexity compared to standar…
We present SpaceHopper, a three-legged, small-scale robot designed for future mobile exploration of asteroids and moons. The robot weighs 5.2 kg and has a body size of 245 mm while using space-qualifiable components. Furthermore, SpaceHopper’s design and controls make it well-adapted for investigati…
Scientific exploration of planetary bodies is an activity well-suited for robots. Unfortunately, the regions that are richer in potential discoveries, such as impact craters, caves, and volcanic terraces, are hard to access with wheeled robots. Recent advances in legged-based approaches have shown t…
We present the design of a robotic leg that can seamlessly switch between a spring-suspended, and unsuspended configuration. Switching is realized by a mechanism that exploits the alternative configuration of the two-link leg. The mechanism is lightweight, does not require additional actuation, and
We present an open-source framework for developing optimal leg designs for walking robots. The leg design parameters (e.g., link lengths, transmission ratios, and spring parameters) are optimized for a user-defined metric such as the minimization of energy consumption or actuator peak torque, enabli
Planetary exploration robots encounter challenging terrain during operation. Vision-based approaches have failed to reliably predict soil characteristics in the past, making it necessary to probe the terrain tactilely. We present a robust, haptic inspection approach for a variety of fine, granular m
This paper introduces SpaceBok, a quadrupedal robot created to investigate dynamic legged locomotion for the exploration of low-gravity celestial bodies. With a hip height of 500 mm and a mass of 20 kg, its dimensions are comparable to a medium-sized dog. The robot's leg configuration is based on an…
Jumping locomotion has the potential to enable legged robots to overcome obstacles and travel efficiently on low-gravity celestial bodies. We present how the 22 kg quadruped robot SpaceBok exploits lunar gravity conditions to perform energy-efficient jumps. The robot achieves repetitive, vertical ju…
Conventional skid or wheel based helicopter landing gears severely limit off-field landing possibilities, which are crucial when operating in scenarios such as mountain rescue. In this context, slopes beyond 8° and small obstacles can already pose a substantial hazard. An adaptive landing gear is pr…
This paper presents the design and experimental evaluations of an articulated robotic limb called Capler-Leg. The key element of Capler-Leg is its single-stage cable-pulley transmission combined with a high-gap radius motor. Our cable-pulley system is designed to be as light-weight as possible and t…
Adapting to the ground enables stable footholds in legged locomotion by exploiting the structure of the terrain. On that account, we present a passive adaptive planar foot with three rotational degrees of freedom that is lightweight and thus suited for highly dynamic legged robots. Its low laying pi…