Design and Control of a Multimorphology Quadruped Robot With Dual-Arm

Although current quadruped robots have demonstrated excellent adaptability and robustness in traversing rough terrain, crossing irregular obstacles in confined spaces remains a significant challenge. This article presents a novel multimorphology quadruped robot with dual-arm, named SABRQ. The robot not only utilizes its dual-arms for coordinated manipulation during motion but also improves its terrain adaptability and obstacle-crossing abilities by switching different morphologies. The robot’s leg mechanism design and hardware control system are introduced. To address center of mass (CoM) offsets caused by internal and external force disturbances, an online CoM adaptive compensator based on generalized momentum is proposed. A whole-body controller with task prioritization, based on model predictive control, is introduced to achieve morphology switching, precise limb control, and robust motion across multiple terrains. Finally, the advance of the CoM compensator is verified through multimethod comparative experiments involving internal and external disturbances. The robot’s exceptional terrain traversal, obstacle-crossing capabilities, and dual-arm collaborative manipulation abilities are validated through experiments involving movement across complex terrains, irregular obstacles, and manipulation tasks during locomotion.