Emergence of pace and trot gaits on a quadruped robot reproducing hip-knee reflexes of cats

Abstract

Animals can change their behavior adaptively in diverse environments. In this study, we developed a small quadruped robot that can reproduce the reflexive behavior of animals to investigate why quadruped animals exhibit specific gaits. We construct reflex circuits based on the results of previous experiments on walking cats. In walking experiments, the robot exhibited pace and trot gaits, depending on parameters about a motor angle. The contribution of this study is showing that the quadruped robot can exhibit two gaits only with reflex control of each leg. These results suggest that leg length parameters may change the gait pattern of animals.