The ability to traverse unknown, rough terrain is an advantage that legged locomoters have over their wheeled counterparts. However, due to the complexity of multi-legged systems, research in legged robotics has not yet been able to reproduce the agility found in the animal kingdom. In an effort to reduce the complexity of the problem, researchers have developed single-legged models to gain ins...

This paper describes the augmentation of our concept for the locomotion control of multi-legged walking machines. The concept is based on a neural control with artificial reflexes to react on sensor input. It is improved with the help of new sensorics as well as an internal ground map, build up with sensor information. Parts of the general concept together with the used sensorics are introduced...

Numerical simulation and optimization of gaits for quadruped robots based on nonlinear multibody dynamics models of legged locomotion have made progress recently. A fully threedimensional dynamical model of Sony’s four-legged robot is used to state an optimal control problem for a symmetric, dynamically stable gait. The optimal control problem is solved by a sparse direct collocation method. Nu...

The present paper proposes analog integrated circuit (IC) implementation of a biologically inspired controller in quadruped robot locomotion. Our controller is based on the central pattern generator (CPG), which is known as the biological neural network that generates fundamental rhythmic movements in locomotion of animals. Many CPG-based controllers for robot locomotion have been proposed, but...