Enhancing Quadruped Robot Performance Through Gait Optimization

Quadruped robots hold immense potential for navigating in unknown environments due to their ability to use individual footholds as well as their increased stability in uneven terrain. However, legged robots often experience limitations due to weight shifts during gait transitions. These weight shifts can cause torque peaks that exceed the capacity of the joint motors (overdrive torque), which lead to an increased risk of mechanical failure. Through the optimization of gait parameters, it is possible to reduce these risks while maximizing performance. This paper presents the use of multi-objective optimization algorithms for gait optimization in a simulated quadruped mammal robot within the Pybullet physics engine. The main focus of the study was to compare the performance of NSGA-II, NSGA-III and U-NSGA-III in minimizing overdrive torque while maximizing travel distance. The results showed that the three algorithms solve this problem, although the NSGA-III consistently yields better results in comparison to the other versions of the NSGA algorithm.