Cockroach-Inspired Hexapod Robots

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Cockroach-Inspired Hexapod Robots International Journal of Trend in Research and Development, Volume 4(3), ISSN: 2394-9333 www.ijtrd.com Cockroach-Inspired Hexapod Robots ¹Varsha K, ²Simran B Godhani, ³Rachel Mathias 1,2,3Department of Computer Science and Engineering, St.Joseph Engineering College, Mangalore, Karnataka, India Abstract— This paper emphasises the need for developing the legged robots rather than wheeled robots. Among these legged robots mentioned in this paper, we will particularly study about the cockroach-like hexapod robot and it’s importance. Over the undulated surfaces, robot movement with wheels becomes difficult. For working and exploring in unknown and rough terrain the use of legged robots is advantageous because their movement is less constrained by the shape of the surface on which they have to travel. The anti-personnel mines of over 100 million is injuring or killing more than 2000 people a month. Under this ultimate environment, a walking robot may be an effective and efficient means of detecting and removing mines Figure 1: ATHLETE during experimental tests while ensuring the safety of local residents and people engaged III. WORKING MECHANISM in the removal work. Hence, insect movement with legs is considered most stable. The present paper proposes an A substantial portion of the Earth is inaccessible to wheeled improved six-legged walking robot. mechanisms natural obstacles like large rocks, loose soil, deep ravines, and steep slopes conspire to render rolling locomotion Initially, the scientists were particularly interested in the stick ineffective. The sea floor, moon, and planets are similarly insect as models since the leg movement is based on a challenging. In natural terrains, legs are often superior to decentralized architecture, in which legs coordinate with each wheels; they avoid undesirable footholds and make discrete other by means of inter segmental connectivity. But, now-a- contacts where wheels must propel with continuous rolling days research work is being carried out on different shapes of contact. One of the most versatile vehicle architecture for robots having four, six, eight legged robots. Among all these working on rough terrain is a legged vehicle. This is true robots, cockroach-like hexapod robot is given the particular because, walking machines only require non–continuous spots importance, because of its remarkable running and climbing of solid ground for moving; whereas wheeled vehicles normally capabilities and because much is known about its biomechanics need large continuous extensions of relatively flat surface to and control. Cockroach is considered to be the fastest land move. There are a number of simple legged robots whose foot animal in the world. Taking this as a cue, cockroach trajectories are fixed to follow a certain route for swing (or movements are discussed in this paper. return stroke) and stance (or power stroke). These types of Keywords— Legged robots, Cockroach- like hexapod robot, vehicles are not so different from wheeled vehicles, as the Wheeled robot behaviour of their legs could be interpreted as a special type of the wheel. But, when the wheels fail to function properly, legs I. INTRODUCTION become the more suitable solution for moving in more A hexapod robot is a mechanical vehicle that walks on six legs. demanding terrains. The legged robots are built to improve the Since a robot can be statically stable on three or more legs, a speed and to climb the obstacle’s height easily. The cockroach- hexapod robot has a great deal of flexibility in how it can move. like hexapod is considered to be the best-legged robot now a If legs become disabled, the robot may still be able to walk. day because of its capability of running fast and climbing. Furthermore, not all of the robot's legs are needed for stability; other legs are free to reach new foot placements or manipulate a payload. Many hexapod robots are biologically inspired by Hexapoda locomotion. Hexapods may be used to test biological theories about insect locomotion, motor control, and neurobiology. II. DESIGN Hexapod designs vary in leg arrangement. Insect-inspired robots are typically laterally symmetric, such as the RiSE robot at Carnegie Mellon. A radially symmetric hexapod is ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Figure 2: Cockroach inspired Hexapod Robot Explorer) robot at JPL. IV. LOCOMOTION Typically, individual legs range from two to six degrees of freedom. Hexapod feet are typically pointed, but can also be Most often, hexapods are controlled by gaits, which allow the tipped with adhesive material to help climb walls or wheels so robot to move forward, turn, and perhaps side-step. Some of the the robot can drive quickly when the ground is flat. most common gaits are as follows: Alternating tripod: 3 legs on the ground at a time. Quadruped. Crawl: move just one leg at a time. IJTRD | May-Jun 2017 Available [email protected] 382 International Journal of Trend in Research and Development, Volume 4(3), ISSN: 2394-9333 www.ijtrd.com Gaits for hexapods are often stable, even in slightly rocky and Hexbug (insectoid toy robot) uneven terrain. Motion may also be non gaited, which means Stiquito (inexpensive insectoid robot) the sequence of leg motions is not fixed, but rather chosen by Per's Hexapod (hobbyist's prototype robot) the computer in response to the sensed environment. This may RHex be most helpful in very rocky terrain, but existing techniques Amphibious and swimming hexpod for motion planning are computationally expensive. Whegs V. INSPIRED FROM BIOLOGY LAURON Hexy Insects are chosen as models because their nervous system are DIGbot at Case Western Reserve University and The simpler than other animal species. Also, complex behaviours University of South Florida can be attributed to just a few neurons and the pathway between sensory input and motor output is relatively shorter. Insects' walking behaviour and neural architecture are used to improve VIII. FUTURE TRENDS IN ROBOTICS robot locomotion. Alternatively, biologists can use hexapod Helicopters of the future could use insect-like robotic legs to robots for testing different hypotheses. land in unlikely places — like the slopes of steep hills or the decks of rocking boats. Biologically inspired hexapod robots largely depend on the insect species used as a model. The cockroach and the stick Touching down on uneven surfaces is something that today's insect are the two most commonly used insect species; both helicopters are just not equipped to do, according to the have been ethologically and neurophysiologically extensively Defense Advanced Projects Agency, or DARPA, the branch of studied. At present no complete nervous system is known, the U.S. Department of Defense that dreams up new military therefore, models usually combine different insect models, technologies. But robotic landing gear developed for DARPA including those of other insects. at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) could better equip these aircraft to land just about anywhere. Insect gaits are usually obtained by two approaches: the centralized and the decentralized control architectures. The new landing gear features four robotic legs with bendable Centralized controllers directly specify transitions of all legs, "knees" that turn a normal helicopter into what looks like a whereas in decentralized architectures, six nodes (legs) are giant, mechanical fly. When the chopper touches down, the legs connected in a parallel network; gaits arise by the interaction automatically move to stabilize the aircraft, according to between neighbouring legs. DARPA officials, who recently tested out the new system near the Georgia Tech campus in Atlanta. VI. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OVER NATURAL CONCLUSION INTELLIGENCE This technology has given an insight about artificial A. Advantages of Artificial Intelligence(AI) intelligence and how it can be used in insectoid robots. It is More permanent hoped that this paper will incite the reader to probe deeper into Ease of duplication and dissemination this fascinating field, which has helped us gain a deeper insight into ourselves. Less expensive Consistent and thorough References Can be documented [1] Poly-pedal Laboratory at Berkeley (USA). Can execute certain tasks much faster than a human [2] Biological Cybernetics/Theoretical Biology (Germany). B. Categories of AI theories [3] Hexapod project at University of Applied Sciences of UA at Hagenberg (Germany). The four basic categories of AI theories are: [4] Spidey - Project at Birla Institute of Technology (India). [5] Zenta Robotic Creations (Norway). Systems that think like humans [6] Deep Invader the Hexapod (Hong Kong). Systems that act like humans [7] www.a4academics.com Systems that think rationally [8] www.livescience.com Systems that act rationally [9] www.mdpi.com/journal/robotics, Franco Tedeschi and Giuseppe Carbone ,”Dessign issues for Hexapod Walking VII. LIST OF ROBOTS Robots,Department DICEM, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Via di Biasio 43, Cassino 03043 (Fr), Pa00k (hobbyist's prototype robot) Italy. The RiSE robot at Carnegie Mellon [10] Wikipedia. The ATHLETE rover at JPL Autonomous walking machine AMOS IJTRD | May-Jun 2017 Available [email protected] 383 .
Recommended publications
  • Smithsonian Institution Archives (SIA)
    SMITHSONIAN OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH AND STUDY 2020 Office of Fellowships and Internships Smithsonian Institution Washington, DC The Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study Guide Can be Found Online at http://www.smithsonianofi.com/sors-introduction/ Version 2.0 (Updated January 2020) Copyright © 2020 by Smithsonian Institution Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1 How to Use This Book .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Anacostia Community Museum (ACM) ........................................................................................................................................................ 2 Archives of American Art (AAA) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH) ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Cooper-Hewitt,
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2014 OUR VISION
    AMOS Centre for Autonomous Marine Operations and Systems Annual Report 2014 Annual Report OUR VISION To establish a world-leading research centre for autonomous marine operations and systems: To nourish a lively scientific heart in which fundamental knowledge is created through multidisciplinary theoretical, numerical, and experimental research within the knowledge fields of hydrodynamics, structural mechanics, guidance, navigation, and control. Cutting-edge inter-disciplinary research will provide the necessary bridge to realise high levels of autonomy for ships and ocean structures, unmanned vehicles, and marine operations and to address the challenges associated with greener and safer maritime transport, monitoring and surveillance of the coast and oceans, offshore renewable energy, and oil and gas exploration and production in deep waters and Arctic waters. Editors: Annika Bremvåg and Thor I. Fossen Copyright AMOS, NTNU, 2014 www.ntnu.edu/amos AMOS • Annual Report 2014 Table of Contents Our Vision ........................................................................................................................................................................ 2 Director’s Report: Licence to Create............................................................................................................................. 4 Organization, Collaborators, and Facts and Figures 2014 ......................................................................................... 6 Presentation of New Affiliated Scientists...................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Simple Muscle Models Regularize Motion in a Robotic Leg with Neurally-Based Step Generation
    2007 IEEE International Conference on WeB9.1 Robotics and Automation Roma, Italy, 10-14 April 2007 Simple Muscle Models Regularize Motion in a Robotic Leg with Neurally-Based Step Generation Brandon L. Rutter, Member, IEEE, William A. Lewinger, Member, IEEE, Marcus Blümel, Ansgar Büschges, Roger D. Quinn Abstract— Robotic control systems inspired by animals are such systems can exhibit, and a corresponding limit to the enticing to the robot designer due to their promises of complexity of locomotion tasks they can solve. simplicity, elegance and robustness. While there has been Coordination between legs to produce gaits has been success in applying general and behaviorally-based knowledge successfully implemented [6, 7, 8, 11] using rules based on of biological systems to control, we are investigating the use of animal behavior [12]. Though these methods produce control based on known and hypothesized neural pathways in specific model animals. Neural motor systems in animals are coordination between legs, subsystems must coordinate the only meaningful in the context of their mechanical body, and motion within each leg. This has typically been done using the behavior of the system can be highly dependent on inverse kinematics [6, 11]. While this is conceptually nonlinear and dynamic properties of the mechanical part of the straightforward, dealing with dynamic environments and system. It is therefore reasonable to believe that to reproduce perturbations can be a matter of considerable effort. In behavior, the physical characteristics of the biological system addition, these methods require trigonometric and other must also be modeled or accounted for. In this paper we examine the performance of a robotic system with three types computations which are often beyond the capability of of muscle model: null, piecewise-constant, and linear.
    [Show full text]
  • Design and Control of a Large Modular Robot Hexapod
    Design and Control of a Large Modular Robot Hexapod Matt Martone CMU-RI-TR-19-79 November 22, 2019 The Robotics Institute School of Computer Science Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Thesis Committee: Howie Choset, chair Matt Travers Aaron Johnson Julian Whitman Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Robotics. Copyright © 2019 Matt Martone. All rights reserved. To all my mentors: past and future iv Abstract Legged robotic systems have made great strides in recent years, but unlike wheeled robots, limbed locomotion does not scale well. Long legs demand huge torques, driving up actuator size and onboard battery mass. This relationship results in massive structures that lack the safety, portabil- ity, and controllability of their smaller limbed counterparts. Innovative transmission design paired with unconventional controller paradigms are the keys to breaking this trend. The Titan 6 project endeavors to build a set of self-sufficient modular joints unified by a novel control architecture to create a spiderlike robot with two-meter legs that is robust, field- repairable, and an order of magnitude lighter than similarly sized systems. This thesis explores how we transformed desired behaviors into a set of workable design constraints, discusses our prototypes in the context of the project and the field, describes how our controller leverages compliance to improve stability, and delves into the electromechanical designs for these modular actuators that enable Titan 6 to be both light and strong. v vi Acknowledgments This work was made possible by a huge group of people who taught and supported me throughout my graduate studies and my time at Carnegie Mellon as a whole.
    [Show full text]
  • © 2020 Alexandra Q. Nilles DESIGNING BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS for SIMPLE MOBILE ROBOTS
    © 2020 Alexandra Q. Nilles DESIGNING BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS FOR SIMPLE MOBILE ROBOTS BY ALEXANDRA Q. NILLES DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Steven M. LaValle, Chair Professor Nancy M. Amato Professor Sayan Mitra Professor Todd D. Murphey, Northwestern University Abstract Mobile robots are becoming increasingly common for applications such as logistics and delivery. While most research for mobile robots focuses on generating collision-free paths, however, an environment may be so crowded with obstacles that allowing contact with environment boundaries makes our robot more efficient or our plans more robust. The robot may be so small or in a remote environment such that traditional sensing and communication is impossible, and contact with boundaries can help reduce uncertainty in the robot's state while navigating. These novel scenarios call for novel system designs, and novel system design tools. To address this gap, this thesis presents a general approach to modelling and planning over interactions between a robot and boundaries of its environment, and presents prototypes or simulations of such systems for solving high-level tasks such as object manipulation. One major contribution of this thesis is the derivation of necessary and sufficient conditions of stable, periodic trajectories for \bouncing robots," a particular model of point robots that move in straight lines between boundary interactions. Another major contribution is the description and implementation of an exact geometric planner for bouncing robots. We demonstrate the planner on traditional trajectory generation from start to goal states, as well as how to specify and generate stable periodic trajectories.
    [Show full text]
  • Jaime Bobadilla Molina.Pdf
    c 2013 Jaime Leonardo Bobadilla Molina MINIMALIST MULTI-AGENT FILTERING AND GUIDANCE BY JAIME LEONARDO BOBADILLA MOLINA DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2013 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Samuel T. King, Chair Professor Steven M. LaValle, Director of Research Professor Tarek Abdelzaher Assistant Professor Dylan A. Shell, Texas A&M University ABSTRACT Advances in technology have allowed robots to be equipped with powerful sensors, complex actuators, computers with high processing capabilities, and high bandwidth communication links. This trend has enabled the development of sophisticated algorithms and systems to solve tasks such as navigation, patrolling, coverage, tracking, and counting. However, these systems have to deal with issues such as dynamical system identification, sensor calibration, and computation of powerful filters for state-feedback policies. This thesis presents novel techniques for tackling the above mentioned tasks. Our methods differ from traditional approaches since they do not require system identification, geometric map building, or state estimation. Instead, we follow a minimalist approach that takes advantage of the wild motions of bodies in their environment. The bodies move within regions connected by gates that enforce specific flows or provide simple sensor feedback. More specifically, five types of gates are proposed: 1) static gates, in which the flow direction of bodies cannot be changed during execution; 2) pliant gates, whose flow directions can be changed by gate-body collisions; 3) controllable gates, whose flow directions can be changed by powered actuators and sensor feedback; 4) virtual gates, in which the flow is affected by robot sensing and do not represent a physical obstruction; and 5) directional detection gates that do not change the flow of bodies, but simply detect bodies’ transitions from region to region.
    [Show full text]
  • Decentralised Compliant Control for Hexapod Robots: a Stick Insect Based Walking Model
    Decentralised Compliant Control for Hexapod Robots: A Stick Insect Based Walking Model Hugo Leonardo Rosano-Matchain I V N E R U S E I T H Y T O H F G E R D I N B U Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour School of Informatics University of Edinburgh 2007 Abstract This thesis aims to transfer knowledge from insect biology into a hexapod walking robot. The similarity of the robot model to the biological target allows the testing of hypotheses regarding control and behavioural strategies in the insect. Therefore, this thesis supports biorobotic research by demonstrating that robotic implementations are improved by using biological strategies and these models can be used to understand biological systems. Specifically, this thesis addresses two central problems in hexapod walking control: the single leg control mechanism and its control variables; and the different roles of the front, middle and hind legs that allow a decentralised architecture to co-ordinate complex behavioural tasks. To investigate these problems, behavioural studies on insect curve walking were combined with quantitative simulations. Behavioural experiments were designed to explore the control of turns of freely walking stick insects, Carausius morosus, toward a visual target. A program for insect tracking and kinematic analysis of observed motion was developed. The re- sults demonstrate that the front legs are responsible for most of the body trajectory. Nonetheless, to replicate insect walking behaviour it is necessary for all legs to con- tribute with specific roles. Additionally, statistics on leg stepping show that middle and hind legs continuously influence each other.
    [Show full text]
  • A Small 3D-Printed Six-Legged Walking Robot Designed for Desert Ant-Like
    Hexabot: a small 3D-printed six-legged walking robot designed for desert ant-like navigation tasks Julien Dupeyroux, Grégoire Passault, Franck Ruffier, Stéphane Viollet, Julien Serres To cite this version: Julien Dupeyroux, Grégoire Passault, Franck Ruffier, Stéphane Viollet, Julien Serres. Hexabot: a small 3D-printed six-legged walking robot designed for desert ant-like navigation tasks. IFAC Word Congress 2017, Jul 2017, Toulouse, France. hal-01643176 HAL Id: hal-01643176 https://hal-amu.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01643176 Submitted on 21 Nov 2017 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Hexabot: a small 3D-printed six-legged walking robot designed for desert ant-like navigation tasks ? Julien Dupeyroux ∗ Gr´egoirePassault ∗∗ Franck Ruffier ∗ St´ephaneViollet ∗ Julien Serres ∗ ∗ Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, ISM, Inst Movement Sci, Marseille, France (e-mail: [email protected]). ∗∗ Rhoban Team, LaBRI, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (e-mail: [email protected]) Abstract: Over the last five decades, legged robots, and especially six-legged walking robots, have aroused great interest among the robotic community. Legged robots provide a higher level of mobility through their kinematic structure over wheeled robots, because legged robots can walk over uneven terrains without non-holonomic constraint.
    [Show full text]
  • A Cockroach Inspired Robot with Artificial Muscles
    A COCKROACH INSPIRED ROBOT WITH ARTIFICIAL MUSCLES by DANIEL A. KINGSLEY Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Adviser: Dr. Roger Quinn Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY January, 2005 Copyright © 2005 by Daniel Kingsley All rights reserved There's no one to take my blame if they wanted to There's nothing to keep me sane and it's all the same to you There's nowhere to set my aim so I'm everywhere Never come near me again do you really think I need you I'll never be open again, I could never be open again. I'll never be open again, I could never be open again. And I'll smile and I'll learn to pretend And I'll never be open again And I'll have no more dreams to defend And I'll never be open again Dream Theater “Space-Dye Vest” (Awake, 1994) Contents List of Figures………………………………………………………………….. iv List of Tables…………………………………………………………………... xiv Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………... xv Abstract………………………………………………………………………… xvi Chapter I: Introduction………………………………………………………… 1 1.1 Background…………………………………………………...…… 1 1.2 Approaches to Biologically Inspired Robots……………………… 3 1.3 An Overview of Actuation Devices………………………………. 5 1.4 Braided Pneumatic Actuators……………………………….…….. 7 1.5 Selected Legged Robots…………………………………………… 10 1.6 Motivation……………………………………………….………… 18 1.7 Overview…………………………………………………………... 19 Chapter II: Design of Robot V………………………………………………… 21 2.1 Design Aspects of Previous Robots………………………………. 21 2.2 Stance Bias………………………………………………………... 24 2.3 General Aspects of Leg Design…………………………………… 26 2.4 Design for Assembly and Disassembly…………………………… 32 2.5 Rear Leg Design…………………………………………………..
    [Show full text]
  • Subject Index
    Subject Index Abduction, 335, 336, 346, 377 Amputation Acceleration above-knee, 278 linear, 61, 118, 213 below-elbow, 357 Acceptors Amputee, 278, 279, 281, 282, 356–358, 363 finite-state, 417 Anthropomorphic appearance, 442 Action potentials, 141 Anthropopathic robots, 442 Action selection, 115, 137, 168 Aquatom, 222 Activation function, 143, 145, 147–149 Arbitration, priority-based, 106 ActivMedia Robotics, 4, 15, 65, 187, 343 Architectures Actuators, 10, 47 3T, 109 cybernetic, 323 ALLIANCE, 407 electromagnetic, 48, 56 application programming layer, 121 hydraulic, 55 AuRA, 109, 404 nonlinear, 47 behavior-based, 3, 8, 10, 21, 97, 104, 107, 134, pneumatic, 48, 55, 330 409, 488 prismatic, 228 BERRA, 109, 110 series elastic, 270 cognitive, 110, 113, 114, 168, 170, 173, 447 Adaptive Suspension Machine, 289, 290, 303 control, 3, 7, 10, 33, 118, 384, 413 adaptive cord mechanism, 204 deliberative, 8, 100 adaptivity, 31, 279 hierarchical-deliberative planning, 108 Adduction, 335, 336, 346, 377 hybrid deliberative reactive, 107, 109 Adept Technology, 4 layered, 105, 121 Adonis, 178 MissionLab, 404 Aerosonde, 233, 234 multiple robot, 10, 402 AeroVironment, 234, 236, 244, 245 open, 8, 121 AFSMs. See Augmented finite-state machines pheromone, 411 Aggregation, 403 Ranger-Scout, 412 AIBO, 5, 22, 62, 121, 318, 319, 429, 430, 452, reactive, 104 510 sense-think-act, 102 Aircraft software, 13, 97, 99, 457, 509 semiautonomous, 232 subsumption, 3, 106–108, 294, 295 tilt-rotor, 232 supervisory layer, 108 Algorithms three-level, 13, 14 control and mapping, 489
    [Show full text]
  • (NOT) JUST for FUN Be Sure to Visit Our Logic Section for Thinking Games and Spelling/Vocabulary Section for Word Games Too!
    (NOT) JUST FOR FUN Be sure to visit our Logic section for thinking games and Spelling/Vocabulary section for word games too! Holiday & Gift Catalog press down to hear him squeak. The bottom of A new full-color catalog of selected fun stuff is each egg contains a unique shape sort to find the available each year in October. Request yours! egg’s home in the carton. Match each chick’s 000002 . FREE eyes to his respective eggshell top, or swap them around for mix-and-match fun. Everything stores TOYS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN easily in a sturdy yellow plastic egg carton with hinged lid. Toys for Ages 0-3 005998 . 11.95 9 .50 Also see Early Learning - Toys and Games for more. A . Oball Rattle & Roll (ages 3 mo+) Activity Books Part O-Ball, part vehicle, these super-grabba- ble cars offer lots of play for little crawlers and B . Cloth Books (ages 6 mo .+) teethers. The top portion of the car is like an These adorable soft cloth books are sure to ☼My First Phone (ages 1+) O-ball, while the tough-looking wheels feature intrigue young children! In Dress-Up Bear, the No beeps or lights here: just a clever little toy rattling beads inside for additional noise and fun. “book” unbuttons into teddy bear’s outfit for the to play pretend! Made from recycled materials Two styles (red/yellow and (green/blue); if you day. The front features a snap-together buckle by PLAN toys, this phone has 5 colorful buttons order more than one, we’ll assort.
    [Show full text]
  • Mechanical Aspects of Legged Locomotion Control
    Arthropod Structure & Development 33 (2004) 251–272 www.elsevier.com/locate/asd Mechanical aspects of legged locomotion control Daniel E. Koditscheka,*, Robert J. Fullb,1, Martin Buehlerc,2 aAI Lab and Controls Lab, Department of EECS, University of Michigan, 170 ATL, 1101 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2110, USA bPolyPEDAL Laboratory, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720-3140, USA cRobotics, Boston Dynamics, 515 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Received 9 March 2004; accepted 28 May 2004 Abstract We review the mechanical components of an approach to motion science that enlists recent progress in neurophysiology, biomechanics, control systems engineering, and non-linear dynamical systems to explore the integration of muscular, skeletal, and neural mechanics that creates effective locomotor behavior. We use rapid arthropod terrestrial locomotion as the model system because of the wealth of experimental data available. With this foundation, we list a set of hypotheses for the control of movement, outline their mathematical underpinning and show how they have inspired the design of the hexapedal robot, RHex. q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Insect locomotion; Hexapod robot; Dynamical locomotion; Stable running; Neuromechanics; Bioinspired robots 1. Introduction: an integrative view of motion science challenge is to discover the secrets of how they function collectively as an integrated whole. These systems possess Motion science has not yet been established
    [Show full text]