Dynamic Locomotion Conference Paper 2014

Automatic Generation of Reduced CPG Control Networks for Locomotion of Arbitrary Modular Robot Structures

no image
Autonomous Motion
Thumb ticker sm badri2025
Dynamic Locomotion, Haptic Intelligence
Senior Research Scientist
Screen shot 2018 02 03 at 11.50.19 am

The design of efficient locomotion controllers for arbitrary structures of reconfigurable modular robots is challenging because the morphology of the structure can change dynamically during the completion of a task. In this paper, we propose a new method to automatically generate reduced Central Pattern Generator (CPG) networks for locomotion control based on the detection of bio-inspired sub-structures, like body and limbs, and articulation joints inside the robotic structure. We demonstrate how that information, coupled with the potential symmetries in the structure, can be used to speed up the optimization of the gaits and investigate its impact on the solution quality (i.e. the velocity of the robotic structure and the potential internal collisions between robotic modules). We tested our approach on three simulated structures and observed that the reduced network topologies in the first iterations of the optimization process performed significantly better than the fully open ones.

Author(s): Bonardi, Stephane and Vespignani, Massimo and Möckel, Rico and Van den Kieboom, Jesse and Pouya, Soha and Spröwitz, Alexander and Ijspeert, Auke
Book Title: Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems
Year: 2014
Bibtex Type: Conference Paper (inproceedings)
Address: University of California, Barkeley
DOI: 10.15607/RSS.2014.X.004
Electronic Archiving: grant_archive

BibTex

@inproceedings{escidoc:2316238,
  title = {Automatic Generation of Reduced CPG Control Networks for Locomotion of Arbitrary Modular Robot Structures},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems},
  abstract = {The design of efficient locomotion controllers for arbitrary structures of reconfigurable modular robots is challenging because the morphology of the structure can change dynamically during the completion of a task. In this paper, we propose a new method to automatically generate reduced Central Pattern Generator (CPG) networks for locomotion control based on the detection of bio-inspired sub-structures, like body and limbs, and articulation joints inside the robotic structure. We demonstrate how that information, coupled with the potential symmetries in the structure, can be used to speed up the optimization of the gaits and investigate its impact on the solution quality (i.e. the velocity of the robotic structure and the potential internal collisions between robotic modules). We tested our approach on three simulated structures and observed that the reduced network topologies in the first iterations of the optimization process performed significantly better than the fully open ones.},
  address = {University of California, Barkeley},
  year = {2014},
  slug = {escidoc-2316238},
  author = {Bonardi, Stephane and Vespignani, Massimo and M{\"o}ckel, Rico and Van den Kieboom, Jesse and Pouya, Soha and Spr{\"o}witz, Alexander and Ijspeert, Auke}
}