Host: The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
Name : [in Japanese]
Date : June 06, 2021 - June 08, 2021
When horses walk, they move their necks as well as legs rhythmically. In addition, horses exhibit versatile neck movements according to locomotion speed. This phenomenon could be a key to understanding how animals orchestrate their large degrees of freedom in their bodies. However, the mechanism underlying this phenomenon still remains elusive. In the present study, we propose a decentralized control mechanism for the coordination of neck and limb movements in which inclination of the body trunk is fed back into neck and limb motions. Using a simple two-dimensional physical simulator we developed, we successfully reproduced speed-dependent neck movements during walk and trot gaits.
