Biologically realistic computer simulation of vertebrates is a challenging problem with exciting applications in computer graphics and robotics. Once the mechanics of locomotion are available it is interesting to mediate this locomotion with higher level behavior such as target tracking. One recent approach simulates a relatively simple vertebrate, the lamprey, using recurrent neural networks t...

Robustness is pivot for robots operating in all-terrain environments. This demand comes mainly due to the highly heterogeneous and unstructured nature of the terrain. Two particular topics are sensitive to this problem: locomotion control and wheel odometry. A behaviour-based approach is proposed for the locomotion control system, whereas a heuristic exploiting the kinematic and dynamical const...

Modularisation, repetition, and symmetry are structural features shared by almost all biological neural networks. These features are very unlikely to be found by the means of structural evolution of artificial neural networks. This paper introduces NMODE, which is specifically designed to operate on neuro-modules. NMODE addresses a second problem in the context of evolutionary robotics, which i...

Wireless capsule endoscopy (WCE) offers a feasible noninvasive way to detect the whole gastrointestinal (GI) tract and revolutionizes the diagnosis technology. However, compared with wired endoscopies, the limited working time, the low frame rate, and the low image resolution limit the wider application. The progress of this new technology is reviewed in this paper, and the evolution tendencies...

This paper describes the hardware and software design of the kidsize humanoid robot systems of the Darmstadt Dribblers in 2010. The robots are used as a vehicle for research in control of locomotion and behavior of autonomous humanoid robots and robot teams with many degrees of freedom and many actuated joints. The Humanoid League of RoboCup provides an ideal testbed for such aspects of dynamic...

Controlling a biped robot with a high degree of freedom to achieve stable and straight movement patterns is a complex problem. With growing computational power of computer hardware, high resolution real time simulation of such robot models has become more and more applicable. This paper presents a novel approach to generate bipedal gait for humanoid locomotion. This approach is based on modifie...

This paper describes the hardware and software design of the kidsize humanoid robot systems of the Darmstadt Dribblers in 2007. The robots are used as a vehicle for research in control of locomotion and behavior of autonomous humanoid robots and robot teams with many degrees of freedom and many actuated joints. The Humanoid League of RoboCup provides an ideal testbed for such aspects of dynamic...

This paper presents a formal framework for achieving multi-contact bipedal robotic walking, and realizes this methodology experimentally on two robotic platforms: AMBER2 and ATRIAS. Inspired by the key feature encoded in human walking— multi-contact behavior—this approach begins with the analysis of human locomotion and uses it to motivate the construction of a hybrid system model representing ...

Relying on reduced models is nowadays a standard cunning to tackle the computational complexity of multi-contact locomotion. To be really effective, reduced models must respect some feasibility constraints in regards to the full model. However, such kind of constraints are either partially considered or just neglected inside the existing reduced problem formulation. This work presents a systema...