This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fukuoka, Y. Articles by Cohen, A. H. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Adaptive Dynamic Walking of a Quadruped Robot on Irregular Terrain Based on Biological Concepts

Graduate School of Information Systems University of Electro-Communications Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan fukuoka{at}kimura.is.uec.ac.jp hiroshi{at}kimura.is.uec.ac.jp

Hiroshi Kimura

Graduate School of Information Systems University of Electro-Communications Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan fukuoka{at}kimura.is.uec.ac.jp hiroshi{at}kimura.is.uec.ac.jp

Avis H. Cohen

Department of Biology and Institute for Systems Research Univ. of Maryland College Park, MD 20742, USA ac61{at}umail.umd.edu

We have been trying to induce a quadruped robot to walk with medium walking speed on irregular terrain based on biological concepts. We propose the necessary conditions for stable dynamic walking on irregular terrain in general, and we design the mechanical system and the neural system by comparing biological concepts with those necessary conditions described in physical terms. A PD controller at the joints can construct the virtual spring-damper system as the visco-elasticity model of a muscle. The neural system model consists of a central pattern generator (CPG) and reflexes. A CPG receives sensory input and changes the period of its own active phase. The desired angle and P-gain of each joint in the virtual spring-damper system is switched based on the phase signal of the CPG. CPGs, the motion of the virtual spring-damper system of each leg and the rolling motion of the body are mutually entrained through the rolling motion feedback to CPGs, and can generate adaptive walking. We report on our experimental results of dynamic walking on terrains of medium degrees of irregularity in order to verify the effectiveness of the designed neuro-mechanical system. We point out the trade-off problem between the stability and the energy consumption in determining the cyclic period of walking on irregular terrain, and we show one example to solve this problem. MPEG footage of these experiments can be seen at http://www.kimura.is.uec.ac.jp.

Key Words: quadruped • central pattern generator (CPG) • walking on irregular terrain

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. Kimura, Y. Fukuoka, and A. H. Cohen Adaptive Dynamic Walking of a Quadruped Robot on Natural Ground Based on Biological Concepts The International Journal of Robotics Research, May 1, 2007; 26(5): 475 - 490. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. T. Asbeck, S. Kim, M. R. Cutkosky, W. R. Provancher, and M. Lanzetta Scaling Hard Vertical Surfaces with Compliant Microspine Arrays The International Journal of Robotics Research, December 1, 2006; 25(12): 1165 - 1179. [Abstract] [PDF]

				Z. G. Zhang, H. Kimura, and K. Takase Adaptive Running of a Quadruped Robot Using Forced Vibration and Synchronization Journal of Vibration and Control, December 1, 2006; 12(12): 1361 - 1383. [Abstract] [PDF]

				I. Poulakakis, E. Papadopoulos, and M. Buehler On the Stability of the Passive Dynamics of Quadrupedal Running with a Bounding Gait The International Journal of Robotics Research, July 1, 2006; 25(7): 669 - 687. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Geng, B. Porr, and F. Worgotter Fast Biped Walking with a Sensor-driven Neuronal Controller and Real-time Online Learning The International Journal of Robotics Research, March 1, 2006; 25(3): 243 - 259. [Abstract] [PDF]