Design and control of jumping mechanism for a Kangaroo-inspired robot

This paper presents the design and control of a jumping mechanism of a Kangaroo-like robot (Kangarobo). The robot is purposely designed to not only jump as high as possible but also to walk with two legs and one tail while carrying all the body weights. The leg is designed by a four-bar linkage structure. Energy saving mechanism for the leg is designed with springs and releasing mechanism is designed with a cam structure. The cam has been designed and modified many times by using a 3D printer to optimize the jumping power. In addition, an optimal spring constant is chosen on the basis of experimental studies. Controllers of a jumping motion are implemented on the DSP and experimental results of successive jumping motions are tested.