The central pattern generator (CPG) has been found to be a real, existing neuron controller for the locomotion control of animals and it has been used on bio‐inspired robots widely in recent years. However, research on the adaptability of CPG‐based locomotion control methods is still a challenge. In particular, the performance of the CPG method on qua...

Title: Feedback Control of Variability in the Cycle Period of a Central Pattern Generator 1 Authors: Ryan M. Hooper1,*, Ruben A. Tikidji-Hamburyan2,*, Carmen C. Canavier2,3,†, Astrid 2 A. Prinz4,† 3 Department of Biomedical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, 4 Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Louisiana State University Health 5 Sciences C...

This document gives the implementation details of the numerical model of the central pattern generator presented in the main article (Section 1). Section 2 presents the design characteristics of the salamander robot. Section 3 explains the methods for measuring the kinematics of salamander and robot locomotion. Finally, Section 4 analyzes recent data that show that the limb oscillators intrinsi...

This article presents a project that aims at constructing a biologically inspired amphibious snake-like robot. The robot is designed to be capable of anguilliform swimming like the lamprey in water and serpentine locomotion like a snake on ground. Both the structure and the controller of the robot are inspired by elongate vertebrates. In particular, the locomotion of the robot is controlled by ...

We derive a formula for the infinitesimal phase response curve (iPRC) of a limit cycle occurring in a piecewise smooth dynamical system satisfying a transverse flow condition. Discontinuous jumps in the iPRC can occur at the boundaries separating subdomains. When the subdomain dynamics are linear, we obtain an explicit expression for the iPRC. We present examples from cell biology (Glass networ...

Humans can generate diverse locomotion behaviors through the hierarchical control of the supraspinal and the spinal systems, where the spinal control is often assumed to consist of central pattern generators and reflexes. It has been demonstrated through simulation that human walking and running can be generated with control models where the central pattern generator is controlled in a hierarch...

A machine was used to impose controlled movements, closely resembling natural movements, on some of the swimmerets of crayfish with their ventral nerve cords cut between thorax and abdomen. The rhythm of the unrestrained swimmerets could be entrained to the imposed frequency. Full entrainment occurred most readily when three or four swimmerets were controlled and was uncommon with two. When one...

Rhythmic movements associated with animal locomotion are controlled by neuronal circuits known as central pattern generators (CPG). These biological control systems appear to entrain to the natural frequencies of the mechanical systems they control, taking advantage of the resonance of the structure, resulting in efficient control. The ultimate goal is employing these controls in a biomimetic a...

1 2 Opposing modulatory effects of D1and D2-like receptor activation on a 3 spinal central pattern generator 4 5 6 7 8 S. Clemens , A. Belin-Rauscent , J. Simmers *, D. Combes * 9 10 11 12 1 Brody School of Medicine, Department of Physiology, East Carolina University, 13 Greenville, NC 27834, USA 14 2 Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287, 33076 Bordeaux, France 15 16 17 18 19 Running t...

Locomotion is a very robust motor pattern which can be optimized after different types of lesions to the central and/or peripheral nervous system. This implies that several plastic mechanisms are at play to re-express locomotion after such lesions. Here, we review some of the key observations that helped identify some of these plastic mechanisms. At the core of this plasticity is the existence ...