Development of multi-limb robot with omnidirectional manipulability and mobility

In order to develop a high performance working robot, we designed and developed a new robot based on the concept of "Limb Mechanism" for integration of legged locomotion and arm manipulation. The developed robot has six limbs which can be used for both locomotion and manipulation. Six limbs are set on vertices of regular hexagonal body so that this robot can have omnidirectional manipulability and mobility. We evaluated the stroke and the stability margin in all walking directions on six-legged and four-legged locomotion. As a result, this robot has higher omnidirectional mobility than conventional mechanisms.