Strategies for Minimizing Joint Torque During Swing Motion of Radial-Type Quadruped Robot

This paper deals with a preliminary study of swing trajectory optimization of ground walking quadruped robot, ST-Quad. We aim to generate an optimal foot trajectory with minimal torque operating on the joints during the swing motion. Based on the dynamics of the robot leg with 4-DOF during swinging between arbitrary initial and final positions, we calculate a trajectory that minimizes the summation of joint torques. Through this, it can be known that the torque tendency at an arbitrary position and the optimal trajectory at that position. Finally, we validate the trajectory optimization algorithm through gazebo simulations and experiments using ST-Quad.