Optimal energy gaits for quadrupeds under variable locomotion conditions

This paper studies the adoption of periodic gaits of quadruped animals by multilegged artificial locomotion exercise. The purpose is to determine the gait to adopt at different velocities, under distinct robot and locomotion conditions, based on two performance measures. A set of experiments reveals the influence of the gait and the body and ground parameters upon the proposed indices. It is verified that the gait should be adapted to the robot forward velocity and to the conditions under which the robot is moving. The experiments also reveal that a gait that decreases the energy consumption generally implies an increase in the trajectory following errors.N/