Example Locomotion with Reconfiguration

In this example, Polypod reconfigures itself three times to optimize its configuration for the type of locomotion required:
  • travelling down a long wooden planked corridor,
  • climbing under a metal railing and down a roughly 2 foot step,
  • traversing over undulating grassy terrain.

    In each section, the respective configurations taken are:

  • Rolling loop, the most efficient gait for flat terrain
  • Earthworm, the best gait for obstacle crossing
  • Spider, the most stable gait for uncertain terrain

    (1.8M) Click on the image for a rather large MPEG video (1100 frames with a resolution 320x200) of a simulation, 1.84Mb.
    The last gait, the spider gait, has been designed but not yet simulated.

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    Comments may be sent to Mark Yim at mark@flamingo.stanford.edu

    last updated 10/31/96