Mechanical design of a quadruped robot

Abstract

This thesis presents the mechanical design and fabrication of the Super Mini Cheetah (SMC) robot, a small ( 9kg) quadruped that is capable of jumping, bounding and trotting. The robot is designed using commercially available components and rapid prototyping methods, resulting in a low-cost, replicable and modifiable platform capable of force, position, or impedance control of each limb. The mechanical system consists of an aluminum torso frame and 3D printed legs. The design of the legs is based on kinematic calculations which determined the lengths of the linkages, force generating capability and the available workspace. The detailed design of the leg components was determined by estimating of the loading conditions required for dynamic locomotion. The design of the mechanical system was refined using FEA and bench level calculations. This thesis documents drop tests and hopping experiments that were performed with the first quadruped prototype.