Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 25-9 - 28

Bio-Inspired Locomotion Control
of Gecko-Mimic Robot:
From Biological Observation
to Robot Control
Hongkai Li, Guolang Zhu, Paolo Arena, Min Yu, Zhiwei Yu, and Luca Patanè
B
y studying animal and human locomotion strategies,
mechanisms, patterns, kinematics, and dynamics,
bio-inspired locomotion aims to establish a new theory
and method of bionic mechanism, motion planning, and
stable control, as well as a new concept for developing bioinspired
robots and unmanned systems. Throughout the long
history of evolution, animals have shaped robust, complex,
and adaptive movements in order to live in difficult environments.
Nature provides an endless supply of robot design
concepts for many environmental conditions, such as flight [1],
swimming [2], and terrestrial movement [3].
A gecko has advanced locomotion capability in threedimensional
space to adapt to its body characters and living
environment, and thus provides a well-reasoned prototype
for a gecko-mimic sprawling robot. With a small size and flat
body, the gecko-mimic robot [4] has application potential in exploration
and detection in confined spaces and hence attracts
researchers' attention. Robert J. Full's team confirmed van der
Waals adhesion in gecko seta in 2002 [5] and studied the dynamics
of gecko running vertically [6]. The bioinspired robot
" Stickybot " was built by Kim et al. [7] from Stanford University
using numerous design ideas taken from the gecko, including
a hierarchy of compliant components, directed adhesion, and
control of tangential contact forces to accomplish adhesion
control. For a gecko-inspired climbing robot, Sitti et al. [4] paid
more attention to the sticky materials [8]. Manoonpong et al. [9]
worked on the neural locomotion control aspects implementing
an adaptive Central Pattern Generator (CPG) controller.
Dai et al. researched the mechanism of a gecko-like robot learning
from the biomorph [10]
and controlling its movements
by mimicking the
animal [11]. Furthermore,
numerous good experiments
on gecko-inspired
robots have been done in
the areas of mechanism,
locomotion, and adhesive
materials.
28
In this paper, we present a bio-inspired foot trajectory planning
method for achieving intra- and inter-limb coordination
for gecko-mimic robot locomotion control. First, the technical
roadmap of bio-inspired locomotion control is introduced;
then animal locomotion observation and experimental devices
are described, after the discussion of gecko motion behavior,
and the motion coordination strategy among the animals' legs
is analyzed. Next, the motion coordination control of a geckomimic
robot inspired by the animal motion is presented, and
lastly, this article's conclusions are drawn.
Technical Roadmap of Bio-inspired
Locomotion Control
It is tempting to just copy the mechanism by which a behavior
of interest is realized in the biological world. However, such
an approach quickly arrives at an impasse since biological solutions
cannot be directly translated into viable engineering
designs. The blueprint of the bio-inspired locomotion control
mainly consists of the following components, as shown
in Fig. 1.
First, the simplified gecko model is constructed, and the
relevant properties, such as joint angle, foot tip trajectories
and so on, are predefined. Following that, a series of biological
experiments involving walking and running on both
horizontal and vertical substrates are planned and executed.
The locomotion can be recorded using motion capture equipment,
and the joint and foot locations can then be retrieved.
Because of the difficulty of extracting the motion coordination
principle from raw data due to noise, signal-processing
Fig. 1. The bio-inspired locomotion control research process.
IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine
1094-6969/22/$25.00©2022IEEE
December 2022
Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 25-9

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