01.12.2012 Views

Architecture of Computing Systems (Lecture Notes in Computer ...

Architecture of Computing Systems (Lecture Notes in Computer ...

Architecture of Computing Systems (Lecture Notes in Computer ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

70 B. Jakimovski, B. Meyer, and E. Maehle<br />

with<strong>in</strong> its stance phase at time 20s. After this cycle, the next parameter change occurs<br />

by neighbor<strong>in</strong>g legs 0 and 4 <strong>in</strong> their stance phases at about 30s <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g from length<br />

parameter <strong>of</strong> 1 to length parameter <strong>of</strong> 2. In the next cycle the legs numbered 1 and 3<br />

<strong>in</strong> their stance phases get synchronized to parameter length <strong>of</strong> 2 at about 35s. The<br />

synchronization cont<strong>in</strong>ues with<strong>in</strong> the leg number 2 which adjusts its parameter from<br />

length 1 to length 2 at 40s. In similar fashion the self-synchronization cont<strong>in</strong>ues <strong>in</strong> the<br />

same experiment also for prolongation <strong>of</strong> the stance / sw<strong>in</strong>g phases from length parameter<br />

2 to length parameter 3 for each <strong>of</strong> the legs. At time 95s all the legs are <strong>in</strong><br />

synchronization hav<strong>in</strong>g the stance / sw<strong>in</strong>g length parameter <strong>of</strong> 3.<br />

Similar to the prolongation, the shorten<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> stance / sw<strong>in</strong>g parameters <strong>in</strong> the same<br />

experiment takes further place and the length parameters by all the legs get shortened<br />

from length 3 to length 1 with<strong>in</strong> their sw<strong>in</strong>g phases. With this last experiment we have<br />

demonstrated that also dynamic self-synchronization by <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g and decreas<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong><br />

the gait parameters can be performed one after another dur<strong>in</strong>g the walk<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the<br />

robot.<br />

6 Conclusion<br />

In this paper we have <strong>in</strong>troduced a biologically <strong>in</strong>spired approach for gait patterns<br />

self-synchronization by jo<strong>in</strong>t leg walk<strong>in</strong>g robots. Throughout the paper we have described<br />

the relation to the firefly synchronization and by schematic representation <strong>of</strong><br />

the self-synchronization by prolongation and shorten<strong>in</strong>g we have expla<strong>in</strong>ed the pr<strong>in</strong>ciples<br />

<strong>of</strong> this concept.<br />

The results for experiments done on our hexapod robot OSCAR have proved that<br />

this approach can be practically applied for achiev<strong>in</strong>g a self-synchronization <strong>of</strong> the<br />

walk<strong>in</strong>g robot gait patterns us<strong>in</strong>g a decentralized robot control architecture. Such a<br />

concept can be also very useful for gait generation and speed adaptation for faulttolerant<br />

walk<strong>in</strong>g mach<strong>in</strong>es where legs sometimes get malfunctioned dur<strong>in</strong>g the robot’s<br />

operation.<br />

Further work will <strong>in</strong>clude conduct<strong>in</strong>g more real case experiments <strong>in</strong> order to test<br />

the adaptability and robustness <strong>of</strong> the proposed methodology. Additional <strong>in</strong>vestigations<br />

will be also done on improv<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>formation flow <strong>in</strong> such a decentralized<br />

robot control architecture.<br />

Acknowledgment. This work is partly supported by German Research Foundation -<br />

DFG (associated to SPP 1183, MA 1412/8-1).<br />

References<br />

1. Han, B., Luo, Q., Wang, Q., Zhao, X.: A Research on Hexapod Walk<strong>in</strong>g Bio-robot’s<br />

Work<strong>in</strong>g Space and Flexibility. In: IEEE International Conference on Robotics and<br />

Biomimetics, pp. 813–817 (2006)<br />

2. Cifuentes, N.J.R., Porras, J.H.G.: Model<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> legged robot based on Colombian <strong>in</strong>sect observations.<br />

In: Electronics, Robotics and Automotive Mechanics Conference (CERMA),<br />

pp. 506–511 (2007)

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!