Kinematic Model of a Stick Insect as an Example of a Six-Legged Walking System

The model proposed here describes the control of the leg movement of a six-legged walking system. It is based on biological data obtained from the stick insect. The model represents a combined treatment of realistic kinematics and of biologically motivated, adaptive gait generation. ln contrast to previous biologically motivated models, it includes realistic legs with three joints and natural geometry and, with some simplifying assumptions, describes the movement of the joints and the tarsi. The results show that the information obtained from biological experiments can be incorporated into a model for a six-legged system that is able to walk at different speeds over irregular surfaces. The model shows a stable gait even when the movement of the legs is disturbed. The system can start walking beginning from arbitrary starting positions of the legs. Thus, the control system described here can be used to control a real walking machine.