Self-organized control of bipedal locomotion by neural oscillators in unpredictable environment
- 1 July 1991
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Biological Cybernetics
- Vol. 65 (3), 147-159
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00198086
Abstract
A new principle of sensorimotor control of legged locomotion in an unpredictable environment is proposed on the basis of neurophysiological knowledge and a theory of nonlinear dynamics. Stable and flexible locomotion is realized as a global limit cycle generated by a global entrainment between the rhythmic activities of a nervous system composed of coupled neural oscillators and the rhythmic movements of a musculo-skeletal system including interaction with its environment. Coordinated movements are generated not by slaving to an explicit representation of the precise trajectories of the movement of each part but by dynamic interactions among the nervous system, the musculo-skeletal system and the environment. The performance of a bipedal model based on the above principle was investigated by computer simulation. Walking movements stable to mechanical perturbations and to environmental changes were obtained. Moreover, the model generated not only the walking movement but also the running movement by changing a single parameter nonspecific to the movement. The transitions between the gait patterns occurred with hysteresis.Keywords
This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit:
- A synergetic theory of quadrupedal gaits and gait transitionsJournal of Theoretical Biology, 1990
- A Learning Algorithm for Continually Running Fully Recurrent Neural NetworksNeural Computation, 1989
- Learning State Space Trajectories in Recurrent Neural NetworksNeural Computation, 1989
- Dynamic Pattern Generation in Behavioral and Neural SystemsScience, 1988
- A numerical method for simulating the dynamics of human walkingJournal of Biomechanics, 1988
- Neurobiological Bases of Rhythmic Motor Acts in VertebratesScience, 1985
- Changes in leg movements and muscle activity with speed of locomotion and mode of progression in humansActa Physiologica Scandinavica, 1985
- A theoretical model of phase transitions in human hand movementsBiological Cybernetics, 1985
- Peripheral control of the cat's step cycleActa Physiologica Scandinavica, 1983
- Ballistic walkingJournal of Biomechanics, 1980