Introduction
There already exists a multitude of walking linkage mechanisms, from the Jensen linkage to the Klann linkage, there is no shortage of mechanisms that achieve this profile. Instead of replicating what many other linkage systems have done, we wanted to tackle a problem more complex while still keeping the theme of walking linkage systems. Therefore, we turned to nature and looked at how other organisms moved. We were particularly fascinated with the spider, with movements that seemed to pivot and shift rather than strut like a typical walking linkage system, and so for our project we decided to mimic the movements as best we can. The biggest issue, is the fact that a spider leg moves with multiple degrees of freedom and in different directions, as such a direct copy would involve knowledge beyond the scope of this class. Instead be decided to approach this goal by combining two different 1 DOF linkage systems in different phases to achieve a similar 3D motion, limiting the scope to contents of our class and also creating a challenge that not only involves the design of linkages, but also the fine tuning of the relationship between multiple linkages using just one input. In summary, our goal is to create the closest representation of a spider as we can, capturing the complex motion profile of the legs using two 2-D linkage systems in parallel to create a more realistic walking motion.
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