DSAC - Dynamic, Single Actuated Climber: Local stability and bifurcations

This paper investigates a novel mechanism, called DSAC for Dynamic, Single Actuated Climber, which propels itself upwards by oscillating its leg in a symmetric fashion using a single actuator. This mechanism achieves dynamic, vertical motion while retaining simplicity in design and control. We explore the local orbital stability of the DSAC mechanism. We use the Poincaré map method with a well chosen Poincaré section to simplify the problem by reducing the dimension of the Poincaré map to 3-dimensions. We find the stable regions while varying the controls input and some of the mechanism's parameters. Moreover, in response to a continuous change in a parameter of the mechanism, the symmetric and steady stable gait of the mechanism gradually evolves through a regime of period doubling bifurcations.