Towards a general controller for quadrupedal locomotion

Animals are able of great mobility, while taking advantage of the dynamics of their bodies and environment such as the gravity field and so on. We would like to investigate the principles of such abilities and improve the mobility of a quadruped robot.

The first goals of this study are :

• to construct a neuro-mechanical simulation model (both computational model and real robot) of quadruped animals (cats or dogs) as tools of biology (physiology, neuroethology, biomechanics and so on).
• to improve mobility of quadruped robots by implementing a general locomotion controller in low, medium and high speed range.

Projects

• Constructing the model of gait adaptations of a decerebrate (thalamic) cat in walking on the split-belt treadmill by using phase modulation based on leg loading/unloading

  References
• Yanagihara, D., Udo, M., Kondo, I., Yoshida, T.: A new learning paradigm: adaptive changes in interlimb coordination during perturbed locomotion in decerebrate cats. Neuroscience Research, vol.18, pp.241-244, 1993.
• Yanagihara, D., Udo, M.: Climbing fiber responses in cerebellar vermal Purkinje cells during perturbed locomotion in decerebrate cats, Neuroscience Research, no.10, pp.245-248, 1994.
• Yanagihara, Kondo, I.:Nitric oxide plays a key role in adaptive control of locomotion in cat. Proc. Natl Acad Sci USA 93: pp.13292-13297, 1996.
• Fujiki, S., Aoi, S., Funato, T., Tomita, N., Senda, K., Tsuchiya K.: Adaptation mechanism of interlimb coordination in human split-belt treadmill walking through learning of foot contact timing: a robotics study. J. Royal Soc. Interface vol.12, [doi:10.1098/rsif.2015.0542], 2015.
• Frigon, A., et al.: Left-right coordination from simple to extreme conditions during split-belt locomotion in the chronic spinal adult cat. J. Physiol. vol.595, no.1, pp.341-361, 2017.
• Aoi, S., Amano, T., Fujiki, S., Senda, K., Tsuchiya K.: Fast and slow adaptations of interlimb coordnation via reflex and learning during split-belt treadmill walking of a quadruped robot. Frontiers in Robotics and AI, [doi:10.3389/frobt.2021.697612], 2021.

[History and Abstracts]


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• Autonomous gait generation and transition in walking&running  by using phase modulation based on leg loading/unloading

  References
• T.G. Brown, Decerebrate Cat Movie (1939), in Video: The Basal Ganglia and Brainstem Locomotor Control edited by E. Garcia-Rill, 1989.
• Haken, H.: Principles of Brain Functioning, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 1996.
• Aoi, S., et al., A stability-based mechanism for hysteresis in the walk-trot transition in quadruped locomotion. J. Royal. Soc. Interface, vol.10, [doi:10.1098/rsif.20120908], 2013.
• Fukuoka, Y., et al., A simple rule for quadrupedal gait generation determined by leg loading feedback: a modeling study, Sci. Rep. 5, [http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep08169], 2015.

[History and Abstracts]


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• Integration of posture control and rhythmic motion control in low and medium speed dynamic walking by using phase modulation based on leg loading/unloading

References

• Grillner, S. and Rossignol, M.: On the initiation of the swing phase locomotion in chronic spinal cats. Brain Res. vol.146, pp.269-277 1978.
• Duysens, J. and Pearson, K.G.: Inhibition of flexor burst generation by loading ankle extensor muscles in walking cats. Brain Res. vol.187, pp.321-32, 1980.
• Pearson, K.G.: Role of sensory feedback in the control of stance duration in walking cats. Brain Res. vol.57, no.1, pp.222-227, 2008.
• Ekeberg, O., Pearson, K.G.: Computer simulation of stepping in the hind legs of the cat: an examination of mechanisms regulating the stance-to-swing transition. Neurophysiol. vol.94, no.6, pp.4256-4268, 2005.

[History and Abstracts]

Photo&Movie of "Patrush" & "Tekken"

Publications of quadruped studies