In this paper, the system design and analysis of a quadruped robot, Rush, are presented. The quadruped robot was fabricated to study autonomous and efficient running on flat and rough terrain. It is a compact, kneed, four-legged machine with only one actuator per compliant leg. A novel control strategy for the quadruped robot has been proposed in consideration of several engineering limitations on sensory feedback. Several simulation studies have already been performed to confirm the validity of the control strategy in the previous reports. In this paper, the results obtained from experiments with Rush are found to agree with the simulation results. The reported work may help improve the understanding of energy-efficient running locomotion and the simple control required to autonomously stabilize it on flat or rough terrain.
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