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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/598

Title: A new type of walking machine
Authors: Ingram, Anthony James
Keywords: Kinematics of machinery
Mechanical movements
Motion control devices
Machine design
Issue Date: 10-Jun-2008
Abstract: This thesis introduces a new type of walking machine that appears promising due to its relative simplicity and efficiency. After an introduction to a selection of previous walking machines, the new machine’s history, advantages, operation and a method for solving its kinematics are given. Early attempts to optimize the mechanism to a range of criteria are described and their shortfalls exposed. A second attempt to optimize the leg geometry by genetic algorithm is detailed and the results of this search discussed. A mechanics model of a hypothetical machine is developed from first principles and the implications of the analysis described. Stability limits and tractive abilities of the machine are explored. A method for determining the loads on the links that constitute the leg and the vehicle chassis is given. A series of prototypes has been constructed and discussions of these machines are given. The most recent prototype is used in a pair of experiments to validate the kinematic and kinetic models. The experimental method, a statistical analysis of results and a discussion are provided for each. The thesis concludes by considering what work remains to be done before a practical cargo carrying transport walking machine can be designed.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/598
Appears in Collections:Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering

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