Abstract: The present invention regards a reflex algorithm for a legged robot upon detecting an unexpected contact in order to reach a desired touchdown location using a leg stub re-swing. The proprioceptive leg-stub re-swing algorithm is a two-phase algorithm that is particularly beneficial in environments with unstructured terrain and wherein vision sensors may be damaged upon contact with protruding obstacles.

Abstract: The present invention pertains to a method for a quadruped robot to navigate through granular media, such as deep sand and for providing improvements in the walking performance over various types of granular media. In particular, the present invention proposes reducing the assumed coefficient of friction about the ground, impacting the ground harder than nominal in the vertical direction at touchdown, and forcing a toe lift off into swing if a knee joint extends beyond a threshold stance to help increase the robustness of a quadruped robot's locomotive abilities on challenging terrains and provide an improvement in the field of biomechanics and robotic navigation.