DecARt Leg: Design and Evaluation of a Novel Humanoid Robot Leg with Decoupled Actuation for Agile Locomotion

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel design of an electrically actuated robotic leg, called the DecARt (Decoupled Actuation Robot) Leg, aimed at performing agile locomotion. This design incorporates several new features, such as the use of a quasi-telescopic kinematic structure with rotational motors for decoupled actuation, a near-anthropomorphic leg appearance with a forward facing knee, and a novel multi-bar system for ankle torque transmission from motors placed above the knee. To analyze the agile locomotion capabilities of the design numerically, we propose a new descriptive metric, called the Fastest Achievable Swing Time (FAST), and perform a quantitative evaluation of the proposed design and compare it with other designs. Then we evaluate the performance of the DecARt Leg-based robot via extensive simulation and preliminary hardware experiments.