Abstract
The striking similarity between biological locomotion gaits and the evolution of phase patterns in coupled oscillatory network can be traced to the role of central pattern generator located in the spinal cord. Bio-inspired robotics aim at harnessing this control approach for generation of rhythmic patterns for synchronized limb movement. Here, we utilize the phenomenon of synchronization and emergent spatiotemporal pattern from the interaction among coupled oscillators to generate a range of locomotion gait patterns. We experimentally demonstrate a central pattern generator network using capacitively coupled Vanadium Dioxide nano-oscillators. The coupled oscillators exhibit stable limit-cycle oscillations and tunable natural frequencies for real-time programmability of phase-pattern. The ultra-compact 1 Transistor-1 Resistor implementation of oscillator and bidirectional capacitive coupling allow small footprint area and low operating power. Compared to biomimetic CMOS based neuron and synapse models, our design simplifies on-chip implementation and real-time tunability by reducing the number of control parameters.
Highlights
The striking similarity between biological locomotion gaits and the evolution of phase patterns in coupled oscillatory network can be traced to the role of central pattern generator located in the spinal cord
central pattern generator (CPG) involves an ensemble of neural oscillators located in the spinal cord of vertebrates and in ganglions of invertebrates that are intricately involved in producing a multitude of rhythmic patterns like locomotion, breathing, chewing, and so on
We demonstrate a distributed CPG-based decentralized approach using a network of capacitively coupled insulator-to-metal phase-transition nano-oscillators (IMT-NOs) using vanadium dioxide (VO2) that provides a novel nanotechnology fabric for hardware implementation of CPG
Summary
Lewis et al.[20,21] proposed an analog CMOS implementations to mimic a biologically plausible integrate-and-fire neuron Such a topology causes significant transient current during the switching of the constituent transistors and dynamic power dissipation[22]. Cuellar et al.[12] have reported an electrophysiological evidence of traveling waves produced by neurons within the spinal cord, and Ijspeert et al.[32] utilized such traveling wave model to demonstrate a swimming salamander robot The connectivity in such a network can vary from a simple nearest- or few immediate-neighbor couplings to an all-to-all connection.
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