Abstract: This paper considers the geometric design of crab-like walkers and climbers, without decoupling leg design from overall machine design. Crab-like machines represent an important sub-class of multi-legged robots, being particularly well suited to crossing difficult terrains. Firstly, the kinematic configurations and constraints are described, which determine the machine's kinematic characteristics. The influence of the design parameters on the kinematic workspace is discussed. Finally, a two stage design methodology is presented, comprising kinematic design and design optimisation, the latter being based on the use of design maps rather than numerical optimisation. The performance measures considered during design optimisation include kinematic, static and quasi-static measures.

Key words: walking machine, robot, kinematics, optimal design