Balancing Ground Reaction Forces on Quadrupeds for Simplified Motion Controller Design

This study presents a simplified control approach for quadruped robots, eliminating the need for complex optimization calculations and reducing hardware requirements, making it a cost-effective solution. The proposed method is particularly suitable for applications involving multiple robots, such as multi-robot teams and swarms, where multiple robots can collaborate on collective tasks with scalable deployment across a variety of functions, from coordinated missions and exploration to single-use, high-risk operations. The objective is to control the quadruped robot's position and orientation for basic tasks without relying on high-end equipment. Classical control methods are applied and their performance is evaluated in trot mode. The quadruped robot is controlled using inverse dynamic control, force control, and PD control methods. Controllers and references were developed on MATLAB Simulink and integrated with the MuJoCo simulation environment.