Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T04:32:42.590Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Dynamic bipedal walking of a dinosaur-like robot with an extant vertebrate's nervous system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2013

Yasuhiro Fukuoka*
Affiliation:
Department of Intelligent Engineering, College of Engineering, Ibaraki University, 4-12-1 Nakanarusawa-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki 316-8511, Japan
Junki Akama
Affiliation:
Seiko Epson Corporation, 80 Hirookaharashinden, Shiojiri-shi, Nagano 399-0785, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

Summary

In this study, we attempt to develop a biped dinosaur-like walking robot by focusing on its nervous system as well as its mechanism. We developed a robot ‘Dinobot’ on the basis of palaeontological knowledge on dinosaurs and extant animals. In addition, we employed typical biologically inspired walking gait generation and control methods derived from an extant vertebrate's nervous system. In particular, we utilized a central pattern generator (CPG), which is a locomotion rhythm generator in a vertebrate's spinal cord, to generate the robot's walking rhythm. Moreover, a reflex centre was placed below CPG and it produced joint torque of the legs in the swing and stance phases. Thus, we successfully achieved adaptive 3D dynamic walking generated by the interaction between the original mechanism of dinosaurs and the nervous system of extant animals. Our future goal is to find out a dinosaur's robust locomotive nervous system suitable for its mechanism.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Aoi, S. and Tsuchiya, K., “Adaptive behavior in turning of an oscillator-driven biped robot,” Auton. Robots 23 (1), 3757 (2007).Google Scholar
2. Alexander, R. M., “Optimization and gaits in the locomotion of vertebates,” Phys. Rev. 69, 11991227 (1989).Google Scholar
3. Alexander, R. M., Dynamics of Dinosaurs and Other Extinct Giants (Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1989).Google Scholar
4. Burke, R. E., Degtyarenko, A. M. and Simon, E. S., “Patterns of locomotor drive to motoneurons and last-order interneurons: Clues to the structure of the CPG,” J. Neurophysiol. 86, 447462 (2001).Google Scholar
5. Cohen, A. H. and Boothe, D. L., “Sensorimotor interaction during locomotion: Principles derived from biological system,” Auton. Robots 7 (3), 239245 (1999).Google Scholar
6. Franzen, H., “Walking the dinosaur,” Scientific American (July 9, 2001).Google Scholar
7. Ekeberg, Ö. and Pearson, K.Computer simulation of stepping in the hind legs of the cat: An examination of mechanisms regulating the stance-to-swing,” Trans. J. Neurophys. 94 (6), 42564268 (2005).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Endo, G., Morimoto, J., Nakanishi, J. and Cheng, G. “An Empirical Exploration of a Neural Oscillator for Biped Locomotion Control, In: Proceedings of the the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (2004) pp. 3036–3042.Google Scholar
9. Endo, G., Nakanishi, J., Morimoto, J. and Cheng, G. “Experimental Studies of a Neural Oscillator for Biped Locomotion with QRIO,” In: Proceedings of the 2005 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (2005) pp. 598–604.Google Scholar
10. Ezure, K. and Wilson, V. J., “Interaction of Tonic Neck and Vestibular Reflexes in the Forelimb of the Decerebrate Cat,” Exp. Brain Res. 54 (2), 289292 (1984).Google Scholar
11. Fagard, J. and Wolff, P. H., “The development of timing control and temporal organization in coordinated action invariant relative timing, rhythms and coordination,” Adv. Psychol. 81, 151173 (1991).Google Scholar
12. Fukuoka, Y., Kimura, H. and Cohen, A. H., “Adaptive dynamic walking of a quadruped robot on irregular terrain based on biological concepts,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 22 (3–4), 187202 (2003).Google Scholar
13. Fastovsky, D. E. and Weishampel, D. B. The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs. (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 2005).Google Scholar
14. Fukuoka, Y., Katabuchi, H. and Kimura, H., “Dynamic locomotion of quadrupeds “Tekken3 & 4” using simple navigation,” J. Robot. Mechatronics 22 (1), 3642 (2010).Google Scholar
15. Full, R. and Koditschek, D. E., “Templates and anchors: Neuromechanical hypotheses of legged locomotion on land,” J. Exp. Biol. 202, 33253332 (1999).Google Scholar
16. Gail, P. D., Lance, J. W. and Neilson, P. D., “Differential effects on tonic and phasic reflex mechanisms produced by vibration of muscles in man,” J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiat. 29 (1), 111 (1966).Google Scholar
17. Gatesy, S., Kambic, R. and Roberts, T., “Long-axis Rotation (LAR): A Missing Degree of Freedom in Avian Bipedal Locomotion,” Proceedings of Dynamic Walking 2012 (2012).Google Scholar
18. Grillner, S., “Control of Locomotion in Bipeds, Tetrapods and Fish,” In: Handbook of Physiology, Vol. II (American Physiological Society, Bethesda, MD, 1981) pp. 11791236.Google Scholar
19. Grillner, S. and Wallen, P., “On peripheral control mechanisms acting on the central pattern generators for swimming in the dogfish,” J. Exp. Biol. 98, 122 (1982).Google Scholar
20. Guan, L., Kiemel, T. and Cohen, A. H., “Impact of movement and movement-related feedback on the Lamprey central pattern generator for locomotion,” J. Exp. Biol. 204, 23612370 (2001).Google Scholar
21. Hase, K. and Yamazaki, N., “Computational evolution of human bipedal walking by a neuro-musculo-skeletal model,” Artif. Life Robot. 3, 133138 (1988).Google Scholar
22. Hirukawa, H., Kanehiro, F., Kaneko, K., Kajita, S. and Morisawa, M., “Dinosaur robotics for entertainment applications design, configuration, control, and exhibition at the world exposition,” IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag. 14 (3), 4351 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Holmes, P., Full, R. J., Koditschek, D. and Guckenheimer, J., “The dynamics of legged locomotion: Models, analyses, and challenges,” Soc. Ind. Appl. Math. 48, 207304 (2006).Google Scholar
24. Iida, F. and Tedrake, R., “Minimalistic control of biped walking in rough terrain,” Auton. Robots 28, 355368 (2010).Google Scholar
25. Kimura, H., Fukuoka, Y. and Cohen, A. H., “Adaptive dynamic walking of a quadruped robot on natural ground based on biological concepts,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 26 (5), 475490 (2007).Google Scholar
26. Kotosaka, S. and Schaal, S., “Synchronized Robot Drumming by Neural Oscillator,” Proceedings of the International Symposium on Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines (2000).Google Scholar
27. Lambert, D., The Ultimate Dinosaur Book (Dorling Kindersley, New York, NY, 1993), pp. 3881.Google Scholar
28. Lee, G., Lowe, R. and Ziemke, T., “Modelling Rarly Infant Walking: Testing a Generic CPG Architecture on the NAO Humanoid,” Proceedings of the IEEE Joint Conference on Development and Learning and on Epigenetic Robotics (2011).Google Scholar
29. Lewis, M. A., Tenore, F. and Etienne-Cummings, R., “CPG Design Using Inhibitory Networks,” In: Proceedings of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation (2005) 3682–3687.Google Scholar
30. Matsubara, T., Morimoto, J., Nakanishi, J., Sato, M. and Doya, K., “Learning CPG-based biped locomotion with a policy gradient method,” Robot. Auton. Syst. 54, 911920 (2006).Google Scholar
31. Matsuoka, K., “Mechanisms of frequency and pattern control in the neural rhythm generators,” Biol. Cybern. 56, 345353 (1987).Google Scholar
32. Miyakoshi, S., Yamakita, M. and Furuta, K., “Juggling Control Using Neural Oscillators,” In: Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (1994) pp. 1186–1193.Google Scholar
33. Nakanishi, J., Morimoto, J., Endo, G., Chenga, G., Schaal, S. and Kawato, M., “Learning from demonstration and adaptation of biped locomotion,” Robot. Auton. Syst. 47 (2–3), 7991 (2004).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34. Ostry, D. J., Gribble, P. L., Levin, M. F. and Feldman, A. G., “Phasic and tonic stretch reflexes in muscles with few muscle spindles: Human jaw-opener muscles,” Exp. Brain Res. 116, 299308 (1997).Google Scholar
35. Paul, G. S., Predatory Dinosaurs of the World. (Simon and Schuster, York City, NY, 1988).Google Scholar
36. Pearson, K. G. and Franklin, R., “Characteristics of leg movements and patterns of coordination in locusts walking on rough terrain,” Int. J. Robot. Res. 3 (2), 101112 (1984).Google Scholar
37. Hiebert, G., Gorassini, M., Jiang, W., Prochazka, A. and Pearson, K., “Corrective responses to loss of ground support during walking II, comparison of intact and chronic spinal cats,” J. Neurophys. 71 (2), 611622 (1994).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
38. Pelc, E. H., Daley, M. A. and Ferris, D. P., “Resonant hopping of a robot controlled by an artificial neural oscillator,” Bioinspir. Biomim. 3, 260261 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39. Polus, B. I., Patak, A., Gregory, J. E. and Proske, U., “Effect of muscle length on phasic stretch reflexes in humans and cats,” J. Neurophys. 66 (2), 613622 (1991).Google Scholar
40. Robin, M. A Physiological Handbook for Teachers of Yogasana (Fenestra Books, Tucson, AZ, 2002).Google Scholar
41. Sellers, W. I. and Manning, P. L., “Estimating dinosaur maximum running speeds using evolutionary robotics,” Proc. Royal Soc. B 274 (1626), 27112716 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42. Shik, M. L. and Orlovsky, G. N., “Neurophysiology of locomotor automatism,” Phys. Rev. 56 (3), 465501 (1976).Google Scholar
43. Stent, G. S., Kristan, W. B. Jr., Friesen, W. O., Ort, C. A., Poon, M. and Calabrese, R. L., “Neuronal generation of the leech swimming movement,” Science 200 (4348), 13481357 (1978).Google Scholar
44. Taga, G., Yamaguchi, Y. and Shimizu, H., “Self-organized control of bipedal locomotion by neural oscillators,” Biol. Cybern. 65, 147159 (1991).Google Scholar
45. Takita, K., Katayama, T. and Hirose, S., “Development of Miniature Dinosaur-Like Robot TITRUS-III,” In: Proceedings of 2001 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (2001), pp. 852–857.Google Scholar
46. Tsujita, K., Inoura, T., Morioka, A., Nakatani, K., Suzuki, K. and T. Masuda, “Oscillator-controlled bipedal walk with pneumatic actuators,” J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 21 (3), 976980 (2007).Google Scholar
47. Williamson, M. M., “Neural control of rhythmic arm movements,” Neural Netw. 11 (7–8), 13791394 (1998).Google Scholar