Abstract
Quadrupeds exhibit versatile and adaptive running by exploiting the flying phase during the stride cycle. Various interlimb coordination mechanisms focusing on mechanical loads during the stance phase have been proposed to understand the underlying control mechanism, and various gait patterns have been reproduced. However, the essential control mechanism required to achieve both steady running patterns and non-steady behaviours, such as jumping and landing, remains unclear. Therefore, we focus on the vertical motions of the body parts and propose a new decentralized interlimb coordination mechanism. The simulation results demonstrate that the robot can generate efficient and various running patterns in response to the morphology of the body. Furthermore, the proposed model allows the robot to smoothly change its behaviour between steady running and non-steady landing depending on the situation. These results suggest that the steady and non-steady behaviours in quadruped adaptive running may share a common simple control mechanism based on the mechanical loads and vertical velocities of the body parts.
Highlights
Quadrupeds instantly change their locomotor patterns to achieve an efficient and adaptive translation
To extract the mechanism underlying adaptive quadruped running, we focus on the physical phenomena in quadruped running, rather than the biological details, and construct a simple interlimb coordination mechanism
We developed an interlimb coordination mechanism in a decentralized manner similar to our previous study [14,15]; there is no neural connectivity between the limbs, and each limb generates its motion according to the descending commands and local sensory feedback mechanisms
Summary
Quadrupeds instantly change their locomotor patterns (e.g. gait patterns) to achieve an efficient and adaptive translation. In addition to steady locomotion, they can exhibit non-steady behaviour, such as leaping and landing, to overcome uneven terrain such as chasms and puddles These adaptive locomotor behaviours are achieved by coordination between limbs, which is referred to as interlimb coordination. Shik et al demonstrated that a central pattern generator (CPG) and local reflexes allowed quadrupeds to exhibit gait transition in response to increments in locomotion speed [3]. Based on these biological findings [3,4], studies have elucidated the essential control mechanism by building mathematical and robotic models [5]. The essential control mechanism involving non-steady locomotor behaviours, such as leaping and landing, remains unclear
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