Over the last two decades, the research and development of legged locomotion robots has grown steadily. Legged systems present major advantages when compared with 'traditional' vehicles, because they allow locomotion in inaccessible terrain to vehicles with wheels and tracks. However, the robustness of legged robots, and especially their energy consumption, among other aspects, still lag behind mechanisms that use wheels and tracks. Legs are not new to humans or animals but building legs for a robot is a complex process. The normally noticed and ignored fact is how a baby learns to walk and the sheer learning curve involved. If we, the intelligent humans take years to learn to walk, imagine creating legs for a robot and teaching it how to walk. Although there is an extensive research going on in the field of legged robots, researchers are still in developing stage to construct a legged robot which can replicate human walk, or for that matter any animals. And a few of their current area of research are in maintaining dynamic stability of the robot, reflex of the robot to sudden impacts and also interaction with the terrain to produce suitable gait. This paper gives a brief description on a few of the existing legged robots on various aspects of a robot and on how each one of them affects the dynamics of the robot. This paper enhances a space for future research on understanding the various aspects of a legged bot design.
展开▼