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Coordinating Central Pattern Generators for Locomotion
For repetitive movements
such as seen in locomotion,
oscillators have been proposed
to control the muscle contractions
needed to drive the muscles.
Two competing ideas in the
world of motor control is
reflex vs. pattern generation
Clearly, in order to control
a system as complex as this requires
significant coordination between
the phases and frequencies
of the different oscillators.
Both CPGs and reflexes seem
to be involved.
The basic idea is one of alternating muscle activation to produce an oscillatory movement.
"GO" signal
squeezing
bending
swinging
This idea is extended to many
Actuators and the problem of
Coordination results.
Each circle is capable
of self-oscillation
Chiel and Beer
Large systems have been made to simulate swimming in leeches and lampreys
Simoni et al - Georgia Tech
One possible application or testbed for locomotion
Other ideas might include:
* Swinging robot legs
* Rolling snake robot
Chip Idea:
1. Design an oscillatory spiking neural network that produces coordinated activity
that is appropriate for driving the finger robot. This can be open loop oscillating.
2. Integrate various sensory inputs that will coordinate the motors such that
Certain phases are initiated by touch sensors on the robot.