Abstract Legged robots face significant challenges in navigating complex terrains. The Virtual Model Control (VMC) method, which utilizes virtual forces to govern robot motion, is a promising approach. However, traditional VMC suffers from computational complexity. While the Decoupled Virtual Model Control (DVMC) mitigates this issue to some extent, existing research on DVMC has primarily focused on quadruped robots, with no prior applications for hexapod systems.To address this gap, this paper proposes a DVMC framework specifically designed for hexapod robots, accompanied by a complete theoretical derivation.The paper first derives the mathematical equations required for the hexapod robot to use DVMC, then deduces the complete mathematical model of DVMC for the hexapod robot. Secondly, a dynamics-based feedforward compensation strategy is adopted to address the trajectory errors of the swing phase, and an optimized foot-end trajectory is proposed to adapt to complex terrain, along with a control strategy for omnidirectional movement of the hexapod robot. Finally, multiple simulations of the hexapod robot based on DVMC are conducted in the Webots-Matlab co-simulation.The simulation results show that the hexapod robot based on DVMC has good passability on uneven surfaces such as slopes and rough roads, and the effectiveness of the omnidirectional movement strategy for the hexapod robot is also verified, providing a reference for subsequent research on the motion control of hexapod robots.
Guo et al. (Tue,) studied this question.