Quadruped locomotion presents a challenge in that it requires manipulating and coordinating four independent appendages which combine in a robot with a large number of DOFs. Such a task expands on concepts we learned in class this term, such as driving lone arms, dealing with rigid obstacles, and using secondary tasks to manipulate within the null space of our kinematic chain. This project seeks to implement and control a quadruped robot within ROS’s Rviz to walk with a generalized gait and maneuver in-place. In this paper, we create a URDF for our quadruped, formulate our kinematic chains through which to control the robot, and ultimately explore our goals of walking and maneuvering using various trajectories while visualizing in Rviz.
