An Energy Optimal Foot Trajectory for the Hydraulic Actuated Quadruped Robot

For a quadruped robot driven by the hydraulic power system, the energy consumption is an important parameter during walking. Inefficient joint motions without considering mechanical power and heat rate can increase the energy consumption of the system. This paper studies the energy consumption of the quadruped robot SCalf, including the mechanical power and the heat rate. An energy optimal foot trajectory is proposed to minimize the energy consumption. The performance of the proposed foot trajectory is tested by using computer simulation.