Snake-like robots conventionally use undulation movements for locomotion [1], [2]. In contrast, a nonstandard snake-like robot having four screw-drive units which are connected serially by three active joints [3] uses propulsion by rotating its screw-drive units to move. Employing this screw-drive mechanism, undulation is not required for its locomotion. This helps it to move in narrow spaces. ...

Learning locomotion skills is a challenging problem. To generate realistic and smooth locomotion, existing methods use motion capture, finite state machines or morphology-specific knowledge to guide the motion generation algorithms. Deep reinforcement learning (DRL) is a promising approach for the automatic creation of locomotion control. Indeed, a standard benchmark for DRL is to automatically...

We address the problem of learning to locomote in modular robotic systems, i.e. systems made from multiple homogenous or heterogenous and highly autonomous modules being assembled into a bigger robotic structure, other than monolithic robots (such as humanoid robot systems or predefined quadruped robots). We are particulary interested in online learning of robust and adaptive locomotion for arb...

Indoor navigation has to deal with more issues as compared to outdoor navigation. Those issues include but are not limited to; need more level of detail to process enclosing area around navigating subject or object, consideration of the context of navigation (about locomotion type and its operating environment), and dealing with unconstrained indoor space for accurate results. Because of these ...

In this paper we consider the problem of letting an aerial robot exploiting its contact with the environment in order to enhance its motion possibilities, in a way reminiscent of legged robots exploiting contact forces for locomotion purposes. As a representative and initial case study, we consider a quadrotor equipped with a 1-DOF arm able to hook at some pivot points, and needing to perform a...

introduction: the effects of electromagnetic fields on biological organisms have been a controversial and also interesting debate over the past few decades, despite the wide range of investigations, many aspects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (elf/emfs) effects including mechanism of their interaction with live organisms and also their possible biological applications still r...

serum level of zinc, copper, β-carotene, vitamin a, and concentrations of zn and cu in hoof of 97multiparous holstein dairy cows with different locomotion scores (lss) were evaluated. simultaneously, znand cu concentrations of close up, fresh and high yielding cattle rations were 77, 94, 75 and 31, 28, 22 ppm, respectively. based on lss, despite normal serum copper levels in all three groups, w...

A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design and control of bio-inspired legged robots or robotic assistive devices. Inspired from nature, legge...

Limbless crawling is a fundamental form of biological locomotion adopted by a wide variety of species, including the amoeba, earthworm and snake. An interesting question from a biomechanics perspective is how limbless crawlers control their flexible bodies in order to realize directional migration. In this paper, we discuss the simple but instructive problem of peristalsis-like locomotion drive...