Robust design of a conformal adaptive foot for quadruped robots

Abstract This paper presents an optimized adaptive foot mechanism that enhances the terrain adaptability of quadruped robots. Although conventional spherical feet are widely used for their structural simplicity and robustness, they often exhibit poor contact stability on highly irregular surfaces. To address these limitations, we propose a conformal adaptive foot (CAF) mechanism that adapts to various terrains and optimize its design variables via the Taguchi method to maximize ground grip performance. Comparative analyses demonstrate that CAF provides superior frictional characteristics compared with traditional spherical designs. Experimental deployment on a physical quadruped robot GO1, which shows stable gait maintenance performance in challenging environments, confirm the practical efficacy of the proposed mechanism.