| Abstract: | Discontinuous gaits for walking machines have not yet been properly studied. Research has focused on the investigation, comprehension, and mathematical formulation of natural gaits. These gaits feature the fact that the body is in constant motion. The results have been significant, but they seem more adequate for animals than machines. On the other hand, discontinuous gaits, executed by animals under extreme conditions, exhibit excellent attributes for implementation in walking machines. This article presents a comparative study of continuous and discontinuous gaits with regard to their maximum achievable velocity and stability. Other aspects such as implementation in real machines, power requirements, and control under terrain difficulties are mentioned briefly. An elemental discontinuous gait is stated, and some variations on deriving crab and turning gaits are performed. Different methods for enlarging the achievable crab angle and improving stability are discussed for discontinuous crab gaits. A similar study is also done for turning gaits. (c) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
