Symmetry-Breaking and Fault-Tolerance Analysis of a Twelve-Legged Jansen Robot Using a Hybrid FEA-ANFIS Framework

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive symmetry-breaking analysis framework for a twelvelegged Jansen walking robot, integrating finite element analysis (FEA) with adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) surrogate modeling. A systematic dataset of 210 cases was generated by combining 21 single- and multi-leg failure scenarios across 10 load levels (20–200 N) on the PLA-based 3D-printed prototype. Two novel dimensionless metrics are introduced: the Resilience Index (RI), quantifying the proportional stress increase relative to the baseline, and the Asymmetry Index (AI), measuring leg-reaction force distribution imbalance. Results identify a clear fault-tolerance threshold between two- and four-leg failures: single-leg failures remain at LOW risk (RI < 0.20), while three-leg asymmetric failures (S18) reach CRITICAL level (RI = 1.13, ~97% of PLA yield strength). A hybrid machine learning framework is proposed, applying ANFIS to maximum stress (R 2 = 0.817) and safety factor (R2 = 0.936) predictions, while reserving FEA tables for bimodal outputs. The ANFIS surrogate achieves approximately 106× speedup over FEA (262.6 µs vs. 5–8 min), enabling real-time fault diagnosis and digital twin applications. The framework is generalizable to other multi-legged robotic systems requiring fault-tolerance evaluation.