Development of a hardware CPG model for controlling both legs of a musculoskeletal humanoid robot with gait and gait cycle change by higher center and sensory information

Abstract

Most conventional biped robots process leg movements and information from each sensor by numerical calculation using a CPU. However, to cope with diverse environments, the numerical calculations are enormous, so they must be processed at high speed using a high-performance CPU and high power consumption. On the other hand, focusing on human motor control, it is believed that basic motor patterns such as walking and running are generated by a neural network called the central pattern generator (CPG), which is localized in the spinal cord and is independent of calculation. We previously focused on pulse-type hardware neural networks (P-HNNs), in which the neural network was composed of analog electronic circuits, and developed a hardware CPG model for controlling a single leg of a musculoskeletal humanoid robot. However, to actually move a biped robot, a CPG model that takes into account both legs and sensory information is required. Therefore, this study aims to develop a hardware CPG model for controlling both legs of a musculoskeletal humanoid robot whose gait changes according to the higher center and sensory information. We report on a hardware CPG model configured by circuit simulation confirmed the generation of walking and running patterns.