In this paper, we develop a hybrid control approach for legged locomotion. We motivate the development of the control architecture using the results of a series of walking, running and obstacle climbing experiments conducted using a six legged robot called HEX. Our initial simulation results indicate the potential stability of the control approach, and our future analytical work should provide ...

BACKGROUND Directional cell motility implies the presence of a steering mechanism and a functional asymmetry between the front and rear of the cell. How this functional asymmetry arises and is maintained during cell locomotion is, however, unclear. Lamellar fragments of fish epidermal keratocytes, which lack nuclei, microtubules and most organelles, present a simplified, perhaps minimal, system...

We have considerable knowledge about the mechanisms underlying compensation of Earth gravity during locomotion, a knowledge obtained from physiological, biomechanical, modeling, developmental, comparative, and paleoanthropological studies. By contrast, we know much less about locomotion and movement in general under sustained hypogravity. This lack of information poses a serious problem for hum...

Visually-guided locomotion is important for autonomous robotics. However, there are several difficulties, for instance, the robot locomotion induces head shaking that constraints stable image acquisition and the possibility to rely on that information to act accordingly. In this work, we propose a combined approach based on a controller architecture that is able to generate locomotion for a qua...

This paper presents an efficient technique for synthesizing motions by stitching, or splicing, an upper-body motion retrieved from a motion space on top of an existing lower-body locomotion of another motion. Compared to the standard motion splicing problem, motion space splicing imposes new challenges as both the upper and lower body motions might not be known in advance. Our technique is the ...

Non-invasive recording in untethered animals is arguably the ultimate step in the analysis of neuronal function, but such recordings remain elusive. To address this problem, we devised a system that tracks neuron-sized fluorescent targets in real time. The system can be used to create virtual environments by optogenetic activation of sensory neurons, or to image activity in identified neurons a...

The autonomous locomotion of a legged robot presents several challenges, such as stability and sensitivity to the ground slope. Complex sensory systems, accurate physical models, and demanding computational resources are often required to maintain balance, that together with precise servo control leads to high energy consumption levels. This paper addresses the problem of controlling the locomo...

Legged robots display a characteristically periodic motion. Measuring and tracking this motion has traditionally been performed using general inertial measurement techniques. While widely applied in robotics, this approach is limited in dynamic legged locomotion due to the excessive accumulation of drift from severe impact shocks (nearly 9g in single leg experiments). This paper introduces the ...

Future planetary missions, including the 2011 European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars mission, will require rovers to travel further, faster, and over more demanding terrain than has been encountered to date. To improve overall mobility, advances need to be made in autonomous navigation, power collection, and locomotion. In this paper we focus on the locomotion problem and discuss the development o...

Modular robots may become candidates for search and rescue operations or even for future space missions, as they can change their structure to adapt to terrain conditions and to better fulfill a given task. A core problem in such missions is the ability to visit distant places in rough terrain. Traditionally, the motion of modular robots is modeled using locomotion generators that can provide v...