Mechanism of Spine Motion About Contact Time in Quadruped Running

The current research of quadruped robot focuses on the quadruped robot with spine motion. Contact time is a very important part of system performance. However, the mechanism of spine motion about contact time has not been clearly elucidated. In this paper, the effect of spine motion on contact time is studied deeply from dynamic view. Firstly, a simplified model of the quadruped robot with spine joint is set up, its dynamic equations are derivated, and a method that can generate passive periodic locomotion is proposed. Secondly, according to the vertical spring oscillator model, the two-dimension planar locomotion of the simplified model is regarded as a special vibration in the vertical direction, and the approximate formula of calculating contact time is obtained. Finally, the approximate formula of calculating contact time is verified by the simulation results of passive periodic locomotion, and the effect of spine motion on contact time is deeply discussed based on the approximate formula of calculating contact time. The discussion proves that spine motion indeed has little effect on contact time, but spine motion can slightly reduce body pith movement and regulate the leg stiffness in leg contact phase. This research proposes an effective research method which can be used to study the motion mechanism of the quadruped robot with spine motion, and the mechanism of spine motion about contact time is clearly elucidated which is helpful to set the parameters of mechanical structure and study control algorithm about the quadruped robot with spine motion.