Finite state automaton based control system for walking machines

Razeen Hussain,Rene Hexel,Teresa Zielinska

doi:10.1177/1729881419853182

Abstract

Walking machines have proved to be an important invention as they do not require any prepared surface, making them ideal for applications involving unexplored environments. They are equipped with a large number of actuators and sensors to achieve a robust locomotion; thus, a systematic approach to designing their control system is required. This article presents a functional control structure based on the logic-labelled finite state automaton approach developed for walking machines. A general control structure is presented and a hexapod robot is used to verify the practicability of the design.

Highlights

One of the most important outcomes of biological evolution is the ability to walk since it does not require any prepared surface
It is evident due to their complex nature that a systematic approach for designing the control system of such machines is crucial for its closed-loop performance
Mechanical design and motion generation for the multilegged walking machines have been the main focus of researchers.[1,2,3,4]

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important outcomes of biological evolution is the ability to walk since it does not require any prepared surface. Mechanical design and motion generation for the multilegged walking machines have been the main focus of researchers.[1,2,3,4] these are important aspects for the development of robots, it should be noted that the control system realisation problems have been a hurdle in their successful practical implementations. The main system is divided into several smaller modules, each responsible for a specific task, allowing for a system developed for one robot to be used for another by replacing a module The arrangement of these modules along with how they interact determines the control structure of the robot. Many robotic control systems[18,19,20,21] have been developed with real-time capabilities for walking machines, the systematic FSM methods are not yet applied. It is a promising recent tool that has demonstrated to be an effective technology for modelling robotic control systems as demonstrated by EstivillCastro et al.[22] and Figat et al.[23]

Motivation

Conclusion