Robot has self-adjusting gait

In humans and animals, recurring movements such as walking are controlled by neural circuits called central pattern generators (CPG) and scientists have used this principle in the development of walking machines.

Currently, a walking robot may receive information about its environment via several sensors before selecting the gait controlling CPG most appropriate for the situation it is in. In this scenario, a separate CPG is needed for every gait.

The robot developed by the Göttingen scientists manages the same task with one CPG that generates entirely different gaits and which can switch between these gaits flexibly.

This CPG is a network consisting of two circuit elements. The secret of its functioning lies in the ‘chaos control’. If uncontrolled, the CPG produces a chaotic activity pattern, but this can be controlled by the sensor inputs into periodic patterns that determine the gait. Depending on the sensory input signal, different patterns - and different gaits - are generated.