Foot design for service robots with cross country abilities and stableness during standing and walking

In this paper a foot for walking machines will be developed, which adapts to rough open country in an optimal way and which ensures a stable standing. The motivation during this conception will be to reduce the effort of control and kinematics for locomotion in rough terrain to a minimum. The structuring characteristics for a foot with the ability to cross-country locomotion are derived from these requirements and therefrom a suitable model will be designed. The emerging foot model shows clear parallels to the human foot. These parallels are described and conclusions to the human foot are drawn at the end of the paper.