Research Article

Advances in Mechanical Engineering

2016, Vol. 8(7) 1–10
Ó The Author(s) 2016
Dynamics of a novel robotic leg based DOI: 10.1177/1687814016657046
aime.sagepub.com
on the Peaucellier–Lipkin mechanism
on linear paths during the transfer
phase

Diego Alfredo Núñez-Altamirano1, Ignacio Juárez-Campos1,

Lucia Márquez-Pérez1, Ociel Flores-Dı́az1 and Leonardo Romero-Muñoz2

Abstract
This article deals with the kinematics and dynamics of a novel leg based on the Peaucellier–Lipkin mechanism, which is
better known as the straight path tracer. The basic Peaucellier–Lipkin linkage with 1 degree of freedom was transformed
into a more skillful mechanism, through the addition of 4 more degrees of freedom. The resulting 5-degree-of-freedom
leg enables the walking machine to move along paths that are straight lines and/or concave or convex curves. Three
degrees of freedom transform the leg in relation to a reachable center of rotation that the machine walks around. Once
the leg is transformed, the remaining 2 degrees of freedom position the foot at a desirable Cartesian point during the
transfer or support phase. We analyzed the direct and inverse kinematics developed for the leg when the foot describes
a straight line and found some interesting relationships among the motion parameters. The dynamic model equations of
motion for the leg were derived from the Lagrangian dynamic formulation to calculate the required torques during a par-
ticular transfer phase.

Keywords
Peaucellier–Lipkin mechanism, transfer phase, straight line path, Lagrangian dynamics, robotic leg, kinematics, dynamics

Date received: 25 September 2015; accepted: 2 June 2016

Academic Editor: Yangmin Li

Introduction synthesis.8 Examples of applications of the PL mechan-

ism are a phonograph pickup arm,9 the suspension for
In 1864, Charles Nicolas Peaucellier, a French army electric wheels,10 and two walking machines: one with
officer, developed a very special mechanism by joining the ability to move four skis to walk11 and the other
eight links to convert circular motion into exact linear that uses six legs to walk. The legs of the latter are fixed
motion. Independently, the Russian mathematician to a circular chassis.12 These two machines only have
Lipman Lipkin1–4 developed the same linkage, explain-
ing it in more detail, and so the mechanism is named
1
the Peaucellier–Lipkin (PL) linkage. Additionally to Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad Michoacana de San
Nicolás de Hidalgo, Morelia, México
the ability to trace linear paths, Shigley and Uicker5 2
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás
say that the PL mechanism can be made to trace a true de Hidalgo, Morelia, México
circular arc of very large radius.
The PL mechanism has been studied in different Corresponding author:
Diego Alfredo Núñez-Altamirano, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
positions and configurations,6 as well as in its distinct
Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Santiago Tapia 403,
inversions.7 Other researchers have carried out systema- Col. Centro. CP 58000 Morelia, Michoacán, México.
tic inquiries dealing with optimum dimensional Email: [email protected]

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2 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Table 1. Comparative list of skills.

Application in DOFs Ability to describe

Linear path Arc path

Shkolnik11 1 Yes No
Garrec12 1 Yes No
NPU 5 Yes Yes

DOF: degrees of freedom; NPU: Novel Propulsion Unit.

the capacity to move in a straight line path, making

their adaptation to changing roads impossible.
Nevertheless, most of the applications in the above-
mentioned studies consider just the basic PL mechan-
ism with no additional degrees of freedom (DOFs).
There is also a remarkable lack of information concern-
ing the use of the PL mechanism as a robotic leg or pro-
pulsion unit, motivating us to develop a leg that can
describe lines and arcs with different centers of
rotation.
Table 1 shows the comparative list of the skills in dif-
ferent mechanical architectures that use the PL mechan- Figure 1. CAD model of the six-legged robot.
ism and the Novel Propulsion Unit (NPU) presented in
this article.
The study of walking machines has increased over
the last decades, resulting in the development of new
propulsion mechanisms, along with more detailed kine-
matic and dynamic studies. For example, Roy and
Pratihar13–16 developed studies on the kinematics and
dynamics for a six-legged robot, applying the
Lagrangian dynamic formulation and Wang et al.17
studied the full body kinematics of a radial symmetrical
six-legged robot and calculated its kinetic energy by
means of a dynamic model using the Lagrangian
method.
This work develops the kinematics and dynamics for
a novel robotic leg based on the PL mechanism. This
leg has 5 DOFs, but only 2 of them are used in the sup-
port and transfer phases. The other 3 DOFs are used
exclusively when the foot needs a reconfiguration to
describe a different path during the transfer phase.18
Our work focuses only on the transfer phase when joint
F traces a linear path.

Description of the hexapod robot Figure 2. Actuators in the robotic leg.

Figure 1 shows the computer-aided design (CAD)

model of the six-legged robot using the propulsion unit movement of the other legs is similar. The kinematics
studied in this work. It consists of a body that is an parameters are calculated by direct and inverse kine-
irregular hexagonal trunk and six legs. Each leg is com- matics to describe the motion of the leg and to find the
posed of eight links driven by five actuators. Two of necessary torque in rotary actuator B. The aim of this
the actuators are rotative and three are linear, as shown research is to derive the kinematic equations of all the
in Figure 2. links of the leg so that the required joint velocities and
The kinematics and dynamics modeling in this work accelerations necessary for the dynamic equations to
describes just one leg in a transfer phase, because the establish the joint torques can be determined.
Núñez-Altamirano et al. 3

Table 2. Length of links.

Length of link Distance (m)

LAB 0.15
LBC 0.15
LAD = LAE 0.42
LCD = LCE = LDF = LEF 0.20

Table 3. The description of the centers of mass.

Local frame Center of mass (x y z)T Mass (kg)

Figure 3. Description of the robotic leg joints. fAEg AE

rCM1 = ( 0:475LAE 0:039LAE 0 )T 2.3
fCEg CE
rCM2 = ( 0:5LCE 0 0 )T 1.5
fEFg EF
rCM3 = ( 0:642LEF 0 0 )T 1.7
fFg rCM4 = ( 0 0 0 )T
F
14.0
Kinematics of the propulsion unit fDFg DF
rCM5 = ( 0:742LDF 0 0 )T 3.0
fCDg CD
rCM6 = ( 0:5LCD 0 0 )T 1.5
To develop the kinematic leg description, it is assumed fADg AD
rCM7 = ( 0:475LAD 0:039LAD 0 )T 2.3
that joint A is fixed and that the linear velocity of the fBCg AB
rCM8 = ( 0 0 0 )T 2.0
foot depends on the dynamic characteristics of rotary
actuator B. The height of the foot is constant during
the transfer phase. The kinematic study has been
divided into three sections: mechanism description, where fN g = f^xN , ^yN , ^zN g is the inertial frame and
direct kinematics, and inverse kinematics. Rot(^zN , d) is the rotation matrix, describing the orienta-
tion between fAEg and fNg. The origin of fAEg with
reference to fNg is N A. Similar processes are used to
Mechanism description describe the other local frames
The propulsion unit, which is based on the PL linkage,  N

N Rot(^zN , u) E
was modified by adding 4 DOFs, resulting in a new TCE = T ð2Þ
0 1
Reconfigurable Propulsion Unit.18 This mechanism has  
six rotational joints called A, B, C, D, E, and F, and the N
N Rot(^zN , s)
E
TEF = T ð3Þ
eight links are as follows: AB, AD, AE, BC, CD, CE, 0 1
DF, and EF. Their lengths are LAB , LAD , LAE , LBC , LCD ,  
LCE , LDF , and LEF , respectively, and they are described N Rot(^zN , a) N F
TF = T ð4Þ
in Figure 3. 0 1
Table 2 shows the lengths of the eight links. Figure 5  
N Rot(^zN , m + g) N D
is the sketch of the leg including the position of the cen- TDF = T ð5Þ
0 1
ters of mass, which are calculated using a CAD pro-
 
gram in a local link frame as described in Table 3. The N Rot(^zN , 2 + g) N D
variables used to describe the centers of mass are speci- TCD = T ð6Þ
0 1
fied in section ‘‘Direct kinematics.’’ The center of mass  
N
of link BC is coincident with joint B, due to the geome- N Rot(^zN , g) A
TAD = T ð7Þ
try of the real link, which includes the motor mass. 0 1
Link AB is considered the fixed link. The translation  
N Rot(^zN , u) N B
axis of link F (which includes the linear actuator F and TBC = T ð8Þ
the foot (Figures 2 and 3)) and the rotation axis of joint 0 1
F are collinear. Finally, the center of mass of this last where N A to N F are position vectors describing the
link is coincident with the origin of the frame fFg. joints with respect to fN g and a, d, g, f, s, 2, m, and u
The required frames that describe the position of the are the angles shown in Figure 4.
centers of mass for the links are approached in the
matrix of translation described in equations (1)–(8)
  Direct kinematics
N
N Rot(^zN , d) A To describe the kinematics of the leg, it is necessary to
TAE = T ð1Þ
0 1 find the positions, angular velocities, and angular
4 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

0 1 0 1
N xF LAF cos a
N
F = @ yF A = @ LAF sin a A ð14Þ
zF 0

where
 
yC 1
a = tan ð15Þ
xC
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
LAC = x2C + y2C ð16Þ
 
1 L2AD + L2AC  L2CD
b = cos ð17Þ
2LAD LAC
g=a+b ð18Þ
d=a  b ð19Þ
Figure 4. Description of the joints for the robotic leg. LAF = 2LAD cos b  LAC ð20Þ

The relative angles u, s, m, and 2, used to describe

accelerations of the links as functions of u, considering links CE, EF, DF, and CD, respectively, are calculated
the lengths LAE , LAD , LCD , LCE , LDF , and LEF as con- by equations (21)–(24), according to Figure 4
stants. Three special cases are obtained depending on
 
the LAB and LBC relation: linear, concave, and convex L2AE + L2CE  L2AC
u = p  cos1 ð21Þ
paths.18 In this article, we consider a trajectory as linear 2LAE LCE
only when LAB = LBC .  2 
The positions of joints A, B, C, D, E, and F and the LAE + L2EF  L2AF
1
s = p  cos ð22Þ
characteristic angles are described in equations (9)– 2LAE LEF
(24), according to the sketch shown in Figure 4. Joint  2 
A, described by N A in equation (9), is the origin of the L + L2CD  L2AC
2 = p + cos1 AD ð23Þ
inertial frame fN g, which is used to describe the planar 2LAD LCD
mechanism  2 2 2

1 LAD + LDF  LAF
0 1 0 1 m = p + cos ð24Þ
xA
N 0 2LAD LDF
N
A = @ yA A = @ 0 A ð9Þ Kinematic and dynamic analysis requires the abso-
zA 0 lute angles measured in the frame {N}, which is why the
absolute angular positions v2 , v3 , v5 , and v6 are deter-
Joints B, C, D, E and F, defined by N B, N C, N D, N E,
mined for links CE, EF, DF, and CD, using equations
and N F, are described by equations (10)–(14),
(25)–(28), respectively
respectively
0 1 0 1 v2 = d + u ð25Þ
NxB LAB
N
B = @ yB A = @ 0 A ð10Þ v3 = d + s ð26Þ
zB 0
v5 = g + m ð27Þ
0 1 0 1
N xC LAB + LBC cos(u(t))
v6 = g + 2 ð28Þ
N
C = @ yC A = @ LBC sin(u(t)) A ð11Þ
zC 0 The angular velocities of the links are calculated as
0 1 0 1 the derivative of the angular positions with respect to
N xD LAD cos g
time (t). For example, the angular velocity v_ 2 is calcu-
N
D = @ yD A = @ LAD sin g A ð12Þ
lated as follows
zD 0
0 1 0 1 d
N xE LAE cos d v_ 2 = v2 ð29Þ
N
E = @ yE A = @ LAE sin d A ð13Þ dt
zE 0 and the other angular velocities for the links are simi-
larly calculated.
Núñez-Altamirano et al. 5

The angular accelerations for the links are calculated describes the straight lines LAB and LBC , they are con-
as derivatives of the angular velocities with respect to stant and equal. It is possible to calculate b and LAC by
€ 2 is calculated as equation (30)
time (t). For example, v means of equations (41) and (42)
 
d d2 1 L2AD + LAF (t)2  L2DF
€ 2 = v_ 2 = 2 v2
v ð30Þ b(t) = cos ð41Þ
dt dt 2LAD LAF (t)
and a similar process is applied to obtain the other LAC = 2LAD cos b  LAF (t) ð42Þ
accelerations.
To calculate the linear velocities of the links in the Finally, using equation (43), the value of u(t) is deter-
centers of mass, it is necessary to describe the center of mined, which in turn determines the position, velocity,
mass positions from CM1 to CM8 with respect to the and acceleration for each link in the direct kinematics
frame fN g, for example, ( N rCM1 1 )T =  
N T
TAE ( AErCM1 1 ) . A similar process is used to deter- LAC (t) cos a(t)
u(t) = tan1 ð43Þ
mine the absolute description of the mass centers LAC (t) sin a(t)  LAB
N
rCM2 , N rCM3 , N rCM4 , N rCM5 , N rCM6 , N rCM7 , and N rCM8 .
The linear velocities in the mass centers of the links are
Trajectory generation
described in equations (31)–(38), where d_ = d^ _ zN ,
_ = u^
u _ zN , s_ = s^ _ zN , m _ = m^ _ zN , 2_ = 2^
_ zN , v _ 2 = v_ 2^zN , The main purpose of the foot trajectory is to determine
_ 3 = v_ 3^zN , v
v _ 5 = v_ 5^zN , v_ 6 = v_ 6^zN , and u_ = u^_ zN the required joint variable u(t) that would be used by
the actuator to allow the leg to follow the required
v1 = d_  N rCM1 ð31Þ path. During the transfer phase describing straight
  lines, the leg uses one DOF. To determine the straight
v2 = d_  N E
 +v 
_ 2  N rCM2  N E ð32Þ line trajectory of the foot, a parametric equation (44) is
  used, where the initial and final point positions are
v3 = d_  N E
 +v 
_ 3  N rCM3  N E ð33Þ  o = ð 0 0:35 0 ÞT
P and Pf = ð 0 0:35 0 ÞT ,
respectively, and the function p(t) 2 ½ 0, 1  represents
d_  N E
v4 =   + (d_ + s   N E)
_ )  (N F  ð34Þ
  the trajectory profile. For this particular case, p(t) is
v5 = g  +v
_  N D _ 5  N rCM5  N D  ð35Þ the polynomial parametric profile described in equation
  (45)19
v6 = g  +v
_  N D _ 6  N rCM6  N D  ð36Þ
 
o + P
T (t) = P f  P
 o p(t) ð44Þ
v7 = g _  N rCM7 ð37Þ
!
 
v8 = u_  N N rCM8  N B
 ð38Þ p(t) =
70 3 315 4 546 420 120
t  4 t + 5 t5  6 t6 + 7 t7
tf3 tf tf tf tf
Due to the symmetry of the mechanism, it is !
expected that the angular displacement utilized to 32 160 288 224 64
+ vmax  2 t3 + 3 t4  4 t5 + 5 t6  6 t7
describe links AD, AE, CD, CE, DF, and EF would be tf tf tf tf tf
dependent on position, velocity, and angular
ð45Þ
acceleration.
where
Inverse kinematics c
vmax = ð46Þ
This section describes how u is determined as a func- tf
tion of time, when the foot moves along a straight line
on a known path. Once the position The index c 2 ½ 1:458334, 2:1875  produces natural
N
F = ( xF (t), yF (t), zF (t) ) is known, the variables movements in the mechanism. For this particular case,
LAF and a are determined in equations (39) and (40), the index used is c = 1:875 and the resulting polynomial
respectively parametric profile becomes a fifth degree profile. The
total time for the step is tf = 5 s.
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
LAF (t) = xF (t)2 + yF (t)2 ð39Þ
  Dynamics of the propulsion unit
yF (t)
a(t) = tan1 ð40Þ Due to the simplicity of the mechanism, the leg motion
xF (t)
equations are derived by applying the typical
The lengths of links LAD , LAE , LCD , LCE , LDF , and LEF Lagrangian dynamic formulation for mechanical sys-
are constant in time. In this study only, when joint F tems,20 but the results are similar to those using
6 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

of the mechanism’s links are constant on the vertical

plane.
The dynamics of the mechanism are calculated using
the general Lagrangian equation of motion (47) where
f  is the torque required by the articulation, T is the
kinetic energy, and U is the potential energy of the
mechanical system described in equation (48)
 
d ∂T ∂T ∂U
f=  + ð47Þ
dt ∂u_ ∂u ∂u
X
8 X
8
T= Ti and U = Ti ð48Þ
i=1 i=1

Due to the kinetic or potential energy of the system,

Figure 5. Description of center of mass and joints. which is the sum of the kinetic or potential energy of
each link, it is possible to use the derivative sum rule23
to independently apply equation (47) for each link and
Table 4. Mass moment of inertia for the links. obtain the torque required by each link, as in equation
(49)
Link Moment of inertia kg m2
 
d ∂Ti ∂Ti ∂Ui
AE I1zz 0.149 fi =  + ð49Þ
CE I2zz 0.011 dt ∂u_ ∂u ∂u
EF I3zz 0.013
F I4zz 0.06 where Ti is the kinetic energy, Ui is the potential energy,
DF I5zz 0.028 and fi is the torque required by the ith link, considering
CD I6zz 0.011 i = 1, . . . , 8. Ti is described in equation (49), and Ui is
AD I7zz 0.149
BC I8zz 0.064
equal to zero because the position of the mass on the
vertical plane is constant

1 1
Ti = mi v2cmi + Icmi v2i ð50Þ
formulations employed by Hollerbach21 or Kane22 that 2 2
are normally used in robotic mechanical systems. In the
where mi is the mass of the ith link; vcmi is the linear
dynamic analysis, the mass of each link is considered to
velocity of the center of mass of the ith link; Icmi is the
be concentrated at the point called the center of mass,
mass moment of inertia of the ith link, measured in the
described in Table 3 and shown in Figure 5. The mass
center of mass; and vi is the angular velocity of the ith
moment of inertia is calculated at the center of mass of
link, measured in the inertial base.
each link, with respect to its local frame. It is calculated
Finally, to determine the total torque required to
using a CAD model and the values are shown in
move the leg by joint B, it is necessary to add all the
Table 4.
torques according to fT = f1 + f2 +    + fi , i = 8.
To obtain the dynamic model, the following consid-
erations are assumed:
Results and discussion
1. Friction in the joints is negligible due to the use
of bearings. The physical parameters employed in the simulation
2. The links of the mechanism move on the plane are described in Tables 2–4. The positions of the links
formed by ^xN  ^yN . and their centers of mass when the foot follows a linear
3. The densities of the links are constant. path using a polynomial profile can be seen in Figure 6.
The time used to follow this trajectory (equation (44))
is tf = 5 s with k = 40 discretizations. Progress in rela-
tion to time is calculated with equation (51)
Development of the dynamic equations
tf
The dynamic analysis of the leg is developed for the tn = n , n = 0, 1, . . . , k ð51Þ
k
transfer phase, in which the forces of the ground reac-
tion to the foot are equal to zero. This is because there Figure 6 shows the two positions of the leg when
is no terrain interaction and the positions of the mass n = 8 and n = 32, the points on the straight line, are
Núñez-Altamirano et al. 7

Figure 8. Angular velocities of the links.

Figure 6. Position of the leg describing a linear path when

t8 = 1 s and t32 = 4 s.

Figure 9. Absolute angular velocity in the rhombus formed by

links CD, DF, EF, and CE.

described in equation (54), where n is the number of

iteration and k is the total discretization. That relation
corresponds to a double reflection. The first is on the
vertical axis and the second is on the horizontal axis.
The origin of the reflection axes is located at point
( 0, 0:5tf )
Figure 7. Angular position of the links.
s = 2p  m; f = 2p 2 ð52Þ
the positions of the foot according to the parametric v5 = p + v2 ; v6 = p + v3 ð53Þ
equation (44).
dn = gkn ð54Þ
Figure 7 shows the angular positions of the links
varying as a function of time, using equations (15)– Those relationships are due to the symmetry of the
(28). It is interesting to observe equation (52), because mechanism, which is consistent with the description
it expresses a complementary relationship between the given in section ‘‘Direct kinematics.’’ The relations
relative angles s and m (links DF and EF), and the rela- expressed in equation (53) indicate that links CE and
tive angles f and 2 (links CD and CE). In addition, DF, as well as CD and EF, are always parallel.
equation (53) expresses a supplementary relationship The angular velocities were calculated using the pro-
between the absolute angles v2 and v5 (links CE and cess described in equation (29) and the results are
DF), and the absolute angles v3 and v6 (links EF and shown in Figures 8 and 9. Due to the fact that the velo-
CD), as well. Finally, there is another interesting rela- city is the variation with the time of the position, if the
tionship between the angles d and g (links AD and AE) change of position is the same in some angles,
8 Advances in Mechanical Engineering

Figure 10. Angular acceleration of the links. Figure 11. Linear velocity of the links.

consequently it is possible to generate relationships

between the angular velocities. The relationships of the
relative and absolute velocities presented in equations
(55) and (56), respectively, are confirmed if equations
(52) and (53) are derived with respect to time. Finally,
the third relation is a vertical reflection relationship
between the angular velocities d_ and g,
_ as described by
equation (57)

s_ =  m;
_ f_ =  2_ ð55Þ

v_ 5 = v_ 2 ; v_ 6 = v_ 3 ð56Þ

d_ n = g_ kn ð57Þ
Figure 12. Torque required by the links.
Figure 10 shows the angular acceleration of the leg
links calculated according to the process described by
equation (30). Because the acceleration is the variation linear velocity of the links decreases when they are near
with the time of the velocity, consequently it is possible the frame fN g.
to generate interesting relationships between the angu- The previously described parameters are necessary
lar accelerations. The relationships of the relative and for the dynamic model so that the torque can be calcu-
absolute accelerations are presented in equations (58) lated and the leg moved. According to these para-
and (59), respectively, and are confirmed if equations meters, it is possible to estimate the link that will
(55) and (56) are derived with respect to time. At least a require more torque, assuming the mass as the more
double reflection relationship in time between the angu- important parameter, but also considering position,
lar acceleration €
d and g
€ is represented in equation (60) velocity, and acceleration. It is postulated that the foot
requires more torque because it has the biggest mass.
€ = €
s m; € = €n
u ð58Þ Another important link to consider is the DF link, due
to its mass, velocity, and acceleration.
€5 = v
v € 2; €6 = v
v €3 ð59Þ
Torque is calculated independently for each link
€dn = g
€kn ð60Þ using equation (35). The values of the required torque
for the links, with the exception of the foot, are illu-
The linear velocity of each link was calculated at its strated in Figure 12. It shows that link DF( f5 ) is the
center of mass, shown in Figure 11. The equations used one that is expected to require the highest torque.
to calculate the velocity for the foot are described in Figure 13 shows the torque that is required for mov-
equations (31)–(38). ing the foot f4 and the total torque fT that is necessary
According to the leg configuration, the center of for moving the leg. One can see how the torque required
mass located in the foot is the furthest from the inertial for the foot is more than half of the total torque needed
frame fN g, and consequently its linear velocity is the by the leg, as postulated above, due to the foot’s large
highest in the leg, as shown in Figure 11, where the mass.
Núñez-Altamirano et al. 9

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The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
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