Design of a cyclic inhibitory CPG controller for the locomotion of a snakelike robot

Abstract

The rhythmic locomotion of a creature is a self-excitation behavior of the CPG (central pattern generator), which makes it supremely adapted for environment. Based on this fact, firstly, a snake-like robot controller with cyclic inhibitory CPG model was designed, and then the stability of a single neuron, CPG model and the NON (neuron oscillator network) was analyzed. By implementing this control architecture to a simulator based on the mechanical dynamics of a real snake-like robot named Perambulator-I, we presented preliminary rules for parameter setting of the CPG controller to modulate the number of S shapes, the curve of the body shape, locomotion velocity, and the curve of the locomotion trajectory for serpentine locomotion. Moreover, we demonstrated that Perambulator-I can successfully exhibit serpentine locomotion by using the output of the proposed CPG controller. The results of this paper provide a realistic approach for designing an artificial CPG controller.