Kinematographic experiments on leg movements and body trajectories of cockroach walking on different terrain

When walking on uneven terrain, a walking machine needs to use free gait to deal with the irregularity of terrains. The gait of animals can greatly help the development of free gaits. However, there are few description on the gaits of animal walking on uneven terrain. In the paper, a kinematograph experiment on the moving pattern, of an insect, the cockroach, was introduced. The experiment investigated the behaviour of cockroach walking over different terrain: single obstacle and stairs using high speed cameras. The moving patterns of the cockroach on these terrains are presented and compared in terms of trajectories, displacements, and stick diagrams.