Design of a Kangaroo Inspired Hopping Robot for Unrestricted Locomotion and Controller Development

Inspired by the agility and maneuverability of running kangaroos, a prototype robot was developed using a reduced order model to constrain the system. Both passive and active models were used to understand the relationship between system parameters and gait performance. A frequency response experiment was performed on the prototype to quantify the relationship between design parameters and system responses. Additionally, preliminary tail controllers were tested. Based on the results of the initial platform, a new robot was designed and built as a platform for the study of three dimensional hopping.