DESIGN AND CONTROL OF A SIX-LEGGED SPIDER ROBOT FOR ENHANCED MOBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY

Abstract

Spider robots are widely preferred due to their superior mobility enabled by multi-legged structures and articulated joints, which allow effective locomotion on uneven terrain and obstacle negotiation. However, the mechanical complexity of legged systems may lead to limited payload capacity, a high number of moving parts, and increased sensitivity to impacts, while balance control becomes more challenging due to variations in the center of gravity. This study aims to mitigate these drawbacks by proposing the mechanical design and prototype implementation of a six-legged spider robot, supported by material selection and an embedded electronic setup for actuation and sensing. Forward and inverse kinematic models of a 3-DOF leg are derived using the Denavit–Hartenberg convention to enable consistent foot placement and trajectory generation. In addition, predefined gait patterns are implemented and evaluated on the prototype to assess feasible locomotion behavior, and a structural deformation analysis of critical leg segments is performed to investigate mechanical robustness under loading. The presented platform provides a practical basis for further developments in hexapod locomotion for field-oriented applications such as search and rescue, reconnaissance, and hazardous environment exploration.

Keywords

• Spider Robot
• Hexapod Robot
• Bio-Inspired Robotics
• Forward Kinematics
• Inverse Kinematics.

Supporting Institution

TÜBİTAK

Project Number

1919B012309643

Thanks

We would like to thank TÜBİTAK for providing financial support through project number 1919B012309643 under the 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program.

References

1. L. Bruzzone, S. E. Nodehi, and P. Fanghella, "Tracked locomotion systems for ground mobile robots: A review," Machines, vol. 10, no. 8, p. 648, 2022.
2. P. Ben-Tzvi and W. Saab, "A hybrid tracked-wheeled multi-directional mobile robot," Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics, vol. 11, no. 4, p. 041008, 2019.
3. W. Chung and K. Iagnemma, "Wheeled robots," Springer handbook of robotics, pp. 575-594, 2016. L. Fang and F. Gao, "Type design and behavior control for six legged robots," Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 31, pp. 1-12, 2018.
4. P. G. De Santos, J. A. Cobano, E. Garcia, J. Estremera, and M. Armada, "A six-legged robot-based system for humanitarian demining missions," Mechatronics,vol. 17, no. 8, pp. 417-430, 2007.
5. A. M. Hoover, S. Burden, X.-Y. Fu, S. S. Sastry, and R. S. Fearing, "Bio-inspired design and dynamic maneuverability of a minimally actuated six-legged robot," in 2010 3rd IEEE RAS & EMBS international conference on biomedical robotics and biomechatronics, 2010: IEEE, pp. 869-876.
6. S. S. Roy and D. K. Pratihar, "Kinematics, dynamics and power consumption analyses for turning motion of a six-legged robot," Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems, vol. 74, pp. 663-688, 2014.
7. E. Celaya and J. M. Porta, "Control of a six-legged robot walking on abrupt terrain," in Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1996, vol. 3: IEEE, pp. 2731-2736.
8. M. S. Erden and K. Leblebicioglu, "Torque distribution in a six-legged robot," IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 179-186, 2007.

9. K. Walas, D. Belter, and A. Kasinski, "Control and environment sensing system for a six-legged robot," Journal of Automation, Mobile Robotics and Intelligent Systems, pp. 26-32, 2008.
10. U. Saranli, M. Buehler, and D. E. Koditschek, "Design, modeling and preliminary control of a compliant hexapod robot," in Proceedings 2000 ICRA. Millennium Conference. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Symposia Proceedings (Cat. No. 00CH37065), 2000, vol. 3: IEEE, pp. 2589-2596.
11. F. Delcomyn and M. E. Nelson, "Architectures for a biomimetic hexapod robot," Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 30, no. 1-2, pp. 5-15, 2000.
12. H. Li, C. Qi, F. Gao, X. Chen, Y. Zhao, and Z. Chen, "Mechanism design and workspace analysis of a hexapod robot," Mechanism and Machine Theory, vol. 174, p. 104917, 2022.
13. S. Y. Misyurin, A. Nelyubin, G. Kreynin, N. Y. Nosova, A. Chistiy, N. Khokhlov, and E. Molchanov, "The Hexabot Robot: Kinematics and Robot Gait Selection," in Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures Meeting, 2021: Springer, pp. 297-305.
14. M. Shahriari, K. G. Osguie, and A. A. A. Khayyat, "Modular framework kinematic and fuzzy reward reinforcement learning analysis of a radially symmetric six-legged robot," Life Science Journal, vol. 10, no. 8s, pp. 120-129, 2013.
15. Y. Yin, F. Gao, Q. Sun, Y. Zhao, and Y. Xiao, "Smart gait: a gait optimization framework for hexapod robots,"Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 37, no. 1, p. 15, 2024.
16. T. Karakurt, A. Durdu, and N. Yilmaz, "Design of six legged spider robot and evolving walking algorithms," International Journal of Machine Learning and Computing, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 96-100, 2015.
17. W. Neubauer, "A spider-like robot that climbs vertically in ducts or pipes," in Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS'94), 1994, vol. 2: IEEE, pp. 1178-1185.
18. S. Arrigoni, M. Zangrandi, G. Bianchi, and F. Braghin, "Control of a hexapod robot considering terrain interaction," Robotics, vol. 13, no. 10, p. 142, 2024.
19. J. Dupeyroux, S. Viollet, and J. Serres, "AntBot: a robot that orients itself like an ant: Visual navigation applications without GPS or magnetometer," 2020.
20. S. Damodharan, S. Mahalakshmi, B. Abhishek, and R. Kalyanasundaram, "SIX LEGGED SPIDER ROBOT," International Journal Of All Research Writings, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 65-69, 2020.
21. A. S. Sayed, A. A. Mohamed, A. M. Aly, Y. M. Hassan, A. M. Abdulaziz, H. H. Ammar, and R. Shalaby, "Experimental modeling of hexapod robot using artificial intelligence," in Proceedings of the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision (AICV2020), 2020: Springer, pp. 26-36.
22. J. Coelho, B. Dias, G. Lopes, F. Ribeiro, and P. Flores, "Development and implementation of a new approach for posture control of a hexapod robot to walk in irregular terrains," Robotica, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 792-816, 2024.
23. S. Y. Misyurin, G. Kreinin, N. Y. Nosova, and A. Nelubin, "Six-legged walking robot (hexabot), kinematics, dynamics and motion optimization," Procedia Computer Science, vol. 190, pp. 604-610, 2021.
24. J. Barreto, A. Trigo, P. Menezes, J. Dias, and A. de Almeida, "Kinematic and dynamic modeling of a six legged robot," IEEE Int. Work. On Advanced Motion Control, 1998.
25. S. Y. Misyurin, G. V. Kreinin, N. Y. Nosova, and A. P. Nelyubin, "Kinematics and dynamics of the spider-robot mechanism, motion optimization," in Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures Meeting, 2020: Springer, pp. 320-326.