Multilegged walker design—the joint torque versus workspace compromise

Abstract

A machine's weight is directly related to the strength of the installed joint actuators, and it is reasonable to assume that minimizing the installed joint torques will minimize the machine weight. Unfortunately, the workspace area will also reduce with the installed joint torques; thus there must be a compromise between weight (joint strength) and workspace. Methods are presented to generate the set of static workspaces corresponding to a range of installed joint torques. In this way the relationship between the workspace area and installed joint torque can be established. A numerical example is presented which shows that a small reduction in the workspace area can lead to a substantial reduction in installed joint torque and hence machine weight.