vii, 343 leaves : diags. tables. ; 30 cm / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Statistics, 1978

This thesis presents a method for determining range of body motion for a walking machine with feet fixed on the ground. The darkling beetle was selected as the sample subject in this study. A closed form inverse kinematic solution is used to determine if a point in space is within range of body motion. An algorithm for tracing workspace boundary is also presented. The software, developed in Microsoft QuickC, has three main parts: (1) a module for searching the workspace contours and recording the contour points, (2) a plotting program for presentation of the workspace on the screen, (3) a module to determine ranges of roll, pitch and yaw for specified foot positions. The plotting program shows four views of the workspace, including front, top, and side views, and user specified axonometric projection. Body range of motion for a representative set of foot positions is presented and analyzed. Results are presented for normal resting height (10mm) and for 8mm and 12mm heights. Body range of motion for feet positioned for the alternating tripod gait is also presented. Ranges of roll, pitch and yaw have been determined and are discussed. / Graduation date: 1991