A landing shock absorbing device 18 provided in a foot mechanism 6
of a leg of a robot comprises an inflatable and compressible bag-like member 19
(a variable capacity element) on a bottom face side of the foot mechanism 6.
The bag-like member 19 is constructed of an elastic material such as rubber.
Air in the atmosphere can flow into and out of the bag-like member 19 by
inflow/outflow means 20 provided with a solenoid valve 27 and the
like. In a landing state of the foot mechanism 6 and in a state immediately
after the foot mechanism shifts from the landing state to a lifting state, the
solenoid valve 27 is closed to maintain the bag-like member 19 in
a compressed state. Furthermore, during the bag-like member 19 in the inflating
state during the lifting state of the foot mechanism 6, by controlling timing
when the solenoid valve 27 is switched from a valve opening state to a valve
closing state, a height of the bag-like member 19 in a compression direction
is controlled to be a height suitable for a gait type of the robot. Thereby, posture
stability of the robot can be secured easily while reducing a impact load in the
landing motion of the leg of the legged mobile robot, and further, a lightweight
configuration can be achieved.