Template models can help to demonstrate and prove concepts on human locomotion such as the spring-mass model [1]. Since biarticular muscles may have specific tasks in walking [2], their action during the swing phase is investigated in this study. A new model is presented to describe the swing leg motion (Fig .1). The goal is to identify the role of elastic biarticular muscles on swing leg dynam...

In this paper, we present the concept of adapting to changes in ground conditions like stiffness, damping and friction, using a novel two degree of freedom reconfigurable leg length hopping robot with a fixed passive compliance. In such a robot, the change in the dynamics of the single legged hopper can be induced by the change in coupled stiffness and damping of the system, i.e., stiffness and...

This paper compares three insect inspired controllers which were implemented on an autonomous hexapod robot There is a growing interest in using insect locomotion schemes to control walking robots Researchers interest in insect based controllers ranges from understanding the biological basis of locomotion control in insects Cruse Full Dean to building real time walking machines which require re...

Leg health has been an important component of broiler welfare and of the economy of broiler production for many decades and includes a wide range of leg disorders leading to locomotion problems (e.g. Thorp, 1994; SCAHAW, 2000; Bradshaw et al., 2002). This article will focus on five leg health traits recorded within the Aviagen Ltd (Newbridge, UK) breeding programme, namely (1) long bones deform...

Leg movements and leg muscle activity were monitored in unrestrained crayfish walking freely under several different load conditions. A variety of changes in the character of locomotion was found to vary with load including: (1) the timing and frequency of the step cycle and in particular the power stroke duration; (2) significant leg-positional changes which result in increased mechanical adva...

Animals rely on an adaptive coordination of legs during walking. However, which specific mechanisms underlie coordination during natural locomotion remains largely unknown. One hypothesis is that legs can be coordinated mechanically based on a transfer of body load from one leg to another. To test this hypothesis, we simultaneously recorded leg kinematics, ground reaction forces and muscle acti...

A running animal coordinates the actions of many muscles, tendons, and ligaments in its leg so that the overall leg behaves like a single mechanical spring during ground contact. Experimental observations have revealed that an animal's leg stiffness is independent of both speed and gravity level, suggesting that it is dictated by inherent musculoskeletal properties. However, if leg stiffness wa...

Locomotion in adult Drosophila depends on motor neurons that target a set of multifibered muscles in the appendages. Here, we describe the development of motor neurons in adult Drosophila, focusing on those that target the legs. Leg motor neurons are born from at least 11 neuroblast lineages, but two lineages generate the majority of these cells. Using genetic single-cell labeling methods, we a...

The generation of gaits for hexapod locomotion controllers can be divided into two main parts: the cyclic action of a single leg (leg cycles) and the coordination of all legs to combine individual leg cycles to produce forward movement. In this paper, we use a genetic algorithm (GA) to evolve the structure of an artificial neural network (NN) that produces leg cycles in a hexapod robot. The mov...

We intend to show the basis of a general legged locomotion controller with the ability to integrate both posture and rhythmic motion controls. We respectively used leg loading and unloading for the phase transitions from swingto-stance and stance-to-swing, and showed the following in our previous 3D model simulation study: (a) as a result of the phase modulations based on leg loading/unloading,...