Meeting Abstract
S3-2.2 Saturday, Jan. 5 Gait transitions between swimming and walking in salamander: lessons from numerical modeling and robotics KNUESEL, Jeremie*; KARAKASILIOTIS, Konstantinos; CRESPI, Alessandro; RYCZKO, Dimitri; CABELGUEN, Jean-Marie; IJSPEERT, Auke Jan; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland; Groupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central, Département de physiologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; INSERM U862 – Neurocentre Magendie, Bordeaux, France; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland jeremie.knuesel@epfl.ch
The ability to efficiently move in complex environments is a fundamental property both for animals and for robots, and the problem of locomotion control is an area in which neuroscience and robotics can fruitfully interact. Animal locomotion control is in a large part based on central pattern generators (CPGs), which are neural networks capable of producing complex rhythmic patterns while being activated and modulated by relatively simple control signals. These networks are located in the spinal cord for vertebrate animals. In this talk, we will present how we model CPGs of lower vertebrates (lamprey and salamander) using systems of coupled oscillators, and how we test the CPG models on board of amphibious robots, in particular a salamander-like robot capable of swimming and walking. We will show how a CPG model designed for a stereotypical behavior (e.g. swimming lamprey) can be extended to support a diversity of locomotor behaviors observed in the salamander (e.g. swimming, forward and backward stepping and underwater stepping). Additionally, a new salamander-like robot able to replicate the three dimensional movements of the salamander’s skeleton will be demonstrated. This robot will enable tests of more complex models owing to its multi-segmented limbs and its 25 degrees of freedom in total (compared to 12 used in our previous robots).
