A Case Study in Optimization of Gait and Physical Parameters for a Snake-inspired Robot Based on a Rectilinear Gait

Physical parameters of the constituent modules and gait parameters affect the overall performance of snake-inspired robots. Hence a system-level optimization model needs to concurrently optimize the module parameters and the gait. Incorporating a physics-based model of rectilinear gaits in the system-level optimization model is a computationally challenging problem. This paper presents a case study to illustrate how meta-models of the pre-computed optimal rectilinear gaits can be utilized to reduce the complexity of the system level optimization model. An example is presented to illustrate the importance of concurrently optimizing the module parameters and the gait to obtain the optimal performance for a given mission.