Motion planning for dynamic eel-like robots

Abstract

We investigate basic issues of motion planning for a class of dynamic mobile robots, focusing on eel-like swimming robots. A primary characteristic of this class of robots is that drift plays a significant role in the generation of motion. We build on previous work (1999) in which we explored generic gait patterns that could be used to drive an eel-like robot. We make an analogy with kinematic car-like robots to develop a nominal path from an initial state to a goal state, and then develop feedback algorithms to perform trajectory tracking around this nominal path. We also address the central issues that arise when using cyclic gaits as the basis for control strategies.