Development and evaluation of a centaur robot

Abstract

Recently various types of robots are being studied and developed, which can be classified into two groups: humanoid type and animal type. Since each group has its own merits and demerits, a new type of robot is expected to emerge with greater strengths and fewer weaknesses. We have proposed a new type of robot called the "Centaur Robot" by merging the concepts of these two types of robots. This robot has a human-like upper body and a four-legged animal-like lower body. Due to this basic architecture, we have found that the robot has several merits, including human-like behaviors and stable walking. This time we have carried out the experiments to evaluate the stability of its waling motion. This paper described the detailed results of the experiments as well as the construction of the software/hardware of the robot. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.