CPG-based locomotion control of a quadruped amphibious robot

Abstract

In this paper, a locomotion controller based on the biological concept of central pattern generator(CPG) is used to control one quadruped amphibious robot, which is characterized with agile legs that are based on five-bar mechanism. The kinematics of the leg mechanism are analyzed to underlie the CPG-based amphibious locomotion. In our framework, the CPG output is used to generate desired locomotion, but not to control the motion of the motors directly. By the inverse kinematics, the desired locomotion is mapped to the motion of motors, which generates the real locomotion of the robot. Simulation and experiment results illustrate that the proposed CPG-based locomotion controller can work well both in the gaits generating and the locomotion mode switching.