Insects exhibit adaptive locomotion in response to the environment by coordinating their legs. Although various studies have been conducted so far, the mechanism responsible for interlimb coordination still remains elusive. In our previous study, we proposed a decentralized control scheme for interlimb coordination based on “TEGOTAE function” by focusing on body support, and we successfully showed that gait transition was well reproduced depending on locomotion speed. However, our model could not explain swimming locomotion of insects, where their locomotor patterns are modified in response to viscosity of substrates. This is because the proposed control scheme used only sensory information about vertical ground reaction forces. In this paper, we design interlimb coordination scheme by mainly focusing on propulsion using “TEGOTAE function” and verify the validity of the proposed control scheme through simulation.

Insects exhibit versatile locomotor patterns in response to the environment encountered, e.g., ground, water-surface, or air. Furthermore, they can adapt their locomotion according to changes in their body properties, e.g., leg amputation. Such locomotor patterns are generated via coordination between leg movements, i.e., interlimb coordination mechanism. To elucidate this mechanism, in this study we tried to model the interlimb coordination mechanism underlying hexapod locomotion based on a concept called “TEGOTAE”, a Japanese concept describing how well a perceived reaction matches an expectation. Preliminary experimental results showed that our proposed TEGOTAE-based control scheme allows us to systematically design decentralized interlimb coordination mechanism that can well reproduces insects’ gait patterns.

Our long-term goal of this study is to understand the control mechanism underlying various types of animal locomotion from a unified viewpoint. Towards this goal, we focused on undulatory locomotion of animals having one-dimensional body structure and aimed to elucidate their underlying control mechanism on the basis of a synthetic approach. Indeed, undulatory locomotion is an intriguing topic because it is classified into two types, i.e., retrograde- and direct-wave locomotion. We proposed a CPG-based control mechanism by focusing on “TEGOTAE”, a Japanese concept describing how well a perceived reaction matches an expectation, and then succeeded in reproducing both retrograde- and direct-wave locomotion via simulation using the propose control scheme.

This paper is intended as an investigation of adaptive flocking behaviors consisting of a large population of agents nevertheless individual agents decide their actions by simple rules and local interactions. The key idea noticed in my research is that: flocks can change their performance appropriately in order to deal with disturbance and unknown situations. Based on the idea, we introduce the difference of speed and observe various collective motions derived from the individual difference. Additionally, we also find the nontrivial group behavior which to the best of my knowledge has never been seen; an agent flies out of the flock and becomes the new head agent leading the flock.

Robots are now required to adapt to changes in the environments and physical damages so that they can work under harsh environments. To meet the requirement, we focused on ophiuroid’ s highly adaptive and resilient locomotion. In our previous work, we proposed a decentralized control scheme for the well-balanced coupling between inter- and intra-limb coordination, using local force feedback. However, this scheme could not reproduce an avoidance behavior observed when arms detect reaction forces that impede propulsion. To tackle this problem, in this study, we redesigned a decentralized control scheme based on “ TEGOTAE ”, a Japanese concept describing how well a perceived reaction matches an expectation.

This paper reports the first demonstration of a self-powered environmental monitoring robot which backpacked a biofuel cell (BFC) and a micro wireless sensor on insect. Electric power was generated from blood sugar in its hemolymph by the BFC and environmental information around it was monitored by the wireless sensor. First, the BFC which can be backpacked cockroaches was fabricated with a 3D printer. Then, the performance of the BFC was evaluated and a maximum power output of 333 μW (at 0.5 V) was obtained. Furthermore, a wireless temperature and humidity sensor was successfully driven by the BFC. Finally, the BFC and the micro wireless sensor were mounted on the insect and environmental monitoring was done by the insect. These results indicate that the insect which backpacked the self-powered battery and micro wireless sensors has sufficient potential as microrobots for environmental monitoring and searching in disasters.

We focus on the inter-limb coordination derived by an ingenious trunk for the realization of various locomotion of multi-legs robot. In this paper, we design a bran-new trunk mechanism in which is equipped with an actuator and build 6-legs robots with passive limbs with the trunk. Through walking experiments with the developed robot, we analysis its locomotion. In addition, we focus on the effect of the physical characteristics of the robot. We also analyze the effect of the physical characteristics on the inter-limb coordination.

Although autonomous decentralized control could be the key to understand the mechanism of adaptive and resilient animal locomotion, its mechanism has not yet been clearly understood. To tackle this problem, we here focus on earthworms, which exhibits crawling locomotion by using their simple one-dimensional body structure. We designed a decentralized control scheme for earthworm locomotion on the basis of TEGOTAE function, which determines cause-and-effect relationship between action and reaction. Owing to sensory feedback based on TEGOTAE function, each segments can selectively exploit reaction force that assists propulsion in real time. We performed simulations and then verified the adaptability, fault-tolerance and scalability for the proposed control scheme.

Control of many animals walking is prodused by their neural network called Central Pattern Generator (CPG). Therefore, Many researchers are studying research of legged-robot walking on irregular terrain by nerve-specific binding between the CPGs. However, if there is nerve-specific binding between the CPGs, there is a risk that failure of the part may lead to system outage. In this paper, In the sextupled robot, which is removal of the interlinb nerve-specific binding, each leg adjusts the own movement speed by successively changing the time constant from the ankle angle at the time of the landing or leaving. As a result, we propose the method of gain a cooperative operation such as the footstep, which kept their step pace. We verified the validity using a sextupled robot that was created on a simulator.

Quadruped exhibit versatile gait patterns according to locomotion speed, environment, and animal species. Such locomotor patterns are generated through coordination between leg movements, i.e., “interlimb coordination.” Although various studies have been conducted so far, the mechanism responsible for interlimb coordination remains elusive. Here, we investigate the effect of head motion on quadruped gait transition to high speed gait patterns. Through simulations using a simple quadruped robot with the head, we reproduced gait transition from walk to pace, to rotary gallop by exploiting head movement.

The rescue team needs to gather information immediately when disaster occurred in order to save human lives. The authors focus on an information gathering method using multiple unmanned aero robots. To perform this task efficiently, the authors most select the proper area sweeping method. Nowadays, there are several area sweeping methods that has been proposed. In this study, the authors focus on two methods called contour parallel sweep and direction parallel sweep. The authors also evaluated the distribution of the gathered information from those two methods.

This study develops self-reconfiguration modular robots using helical magnets. In this paper, we propose control method for stable movement, communication system among modules, and action decision rule to the self-reconfiguration with autonomous distributed system. The stable movement is realized by arrangement of helical magnets to increase binding force and propulsive force. The control system is realized by using hall sensors, full color LED and color sensors. The action decision to generate crawl motion is realized.

Legged animals exhibit adaptive and resilient locomotion through their interlimb coordination. Our long-term goal of this study is to develop a systematic design scheme for legged robots by elucidating the interlimb coordination mechanism of various legged animals from a unified viewpoint. Towards this goal, we previously proposed a systematic decentralized control scheme for hexapod locomotion based on a concept called “TEGOTAE”, a Japanese concept describing how well a perceived reaction matches an expectation. In this study, we investigate the applicability of the TEGOTAE-based control scheme to octopod locomotion. Simulations results showed that typical gait patterns of spiders and scorpions are well reproduced by changing the feedback gain.

We develop a modular robot that models the interplay between plasma membrane and cytoplasm in a cellar slime mold cell. In modular robotics, it is indispensable to solve the trade-off problem between swam coherency and reconfigurability. A cellar slime mold cell solves this problem, i.e., it locomotes adaptively while reconfiguration by contraction and extension of plasma membrane. This phenomenon is done by the interplay between plasma membrane and cytoplasm. Based on this knowledge, we simulate chemical reactions that describe interplay between plasma membrane and cytoplasm on real physical modular robots. As a result of experiment, we observed the locomotion of the proposed modular robot depending on difference of interplay between plasma- membrane-like modules and cytoplasm-like modules.

In this study, towards the neurophysiological mechanism elucidation of the aggressive behavior of crickets, in order to examine the internal state of the aggressive behavior. Therefore, we have developed a small mobile robot that can repeatedly induce the aggressive behavior of cricket. In this paper, the small mobile robot ware able to induce the following activities and the antenna fencing which is a part of the aggressive behavior to robots.

In this paper, frictional constraint of the biped robot’s sole is deduced and verified in single support phase. Conventionally, the study of frictional constraint was only considered in translational slip. But there are not only translational slip but also twist in actual biped walking. In this study, a method to calculate the frictional force and torque is suggested as the quantitative expression of frictional constraint based on a biped robot model. The experimented results verify the proposed calculation approach of the frictional force and torque.

This paper introduces a Tri-Frame type robot. It is based on the construction method of reduced degrees of freedom. However, there are times when you want more DOF in working robot. The robot function is changed by the difference in the number of active DOF. We discuss the operation when the DOF is changed 9-18. As an example it shows the six-legged robot to be consists of 15 DOF.

Dynamic Walking is one of human walking method performs kicking continuously,thereby realizing stable walking.This paper presents the dynamic output control of stable kicking force required to walk,also bi-articular simultaneous drive mechanism the relationship between the liveing body muscle to print it out using a simple conpass model.

In this paper, we explain walking pattern generation method for four-legged walking robot using a non-linear oscillator. We use van der Pol equation as a non-linear oscillator. When some van der pol oscillators are coupled mutually, they interact each other and synchronize various patterns. The behavior of such oscillators is called mutual entrainment. In this study, we describe walking pattern generate method of four-legged robot by using mutual entrainment of four-coupled VDP oscillators. Our method is able to generate the walking pattern that the robot moves forward, backward and right or left turning by varying the phase of the oscillator.

Recently, the autonomous robot is desired in spread versatile area to support the human society, However, the location is assumed as an activity area likely to present the ground with stairs and uneven gait. These robots have complex mechanisms and energy consumption is much and weight of these robot are limited to control smoothly. In this paper we discuss the cost performance with tale locomotion to assist to walk and running pattern less energy consumption, especially a lot of energy to the realization of a long-term operation in the everyday

In our previous work, we proposed the periodic-input control method that can control energy of various systems such as pendulums, swings, and a 1-DoF hopping robot. We can achieve control objectives by controlling energy in these cases. However, multi-DoF vibration systems cannot be controlled in such way; because they have multiple modes of vibration, we must control relations among these modes as well as energy in order to control total behaviors of the system. From these viewpoints, we have investigated the hopping control problem of the quadruped robot with compliant legs as one of the multi-DoF control target by computer simulations. In this paper, we applied the periodic-input control method to the real machine and actualized distinct motions such as vertical hopping, longitudinal/lateral locomotion and yaw motion.

In this report, the simulation model of the bipedal robot with reduced degrees of freedom is explained. The model is designed on the bipedal robot named “YANBO-II”, which has reduced degrees of freedom. A walking robot is a promising to use in various environment due to the ability to put its foot at discrete standing point. A multi-legged walking robot has usually many degrees of freedom and also many control parameters. This research aims at developing the legged robot has less degrees of freedom to achieve the mission in the real world to make its control easier. The simulated model is used to evaluate the ability of the bipedal robot with reduced degrees of freedom for the leg-wheel hybrid locomotion on flat terrain and walking motion on the rough terrain.

This paper proposes a method for decentralized control of a centipede-like multi-legged robot with active inter-segment joints. A coordinate system defined on each contact point makes it possible to walk by using only local information. The coordinate system can be defined by only unilateral two contant points and the information given by a postual sensor. In addition, allowing the contralateral legs of a module to leave the ground at the same time, the robot can improve the walking ability. Finally, the robot simulation shows the availability of the proposed method.

We developed a small pneumatic quadruped robot. The robot has hip joints turned in the roll direction. The robot doesn't limit range of motion and increases a stride without changing the width of the shoulders. We hoped that the robot run faster with bounding gaits when compared with hip joints not turned in the roll direction. Experiments were run in hardware on treadmill with fast trotting gaits and short bounding gaits. The robot reached a running trot with a maximum speed 6.5 [km/h] when hip joints turned and 7.0 [km/h] when hip joints not turned. In this paper, the robot didn't run with bounding gaits at enough time to compare a speed when hip joints turned or not.

The teleoperation system for the hexapod robot is proposed to assist the walking on the environment cluttered with obstacles. The teleoperation interface allows the operator to command the moving direction, and the robot automatically plans the landing points and walks along with the commanded direction in the obstacle environment. In the proposed method, the the teleoperation interface converts the operator input to the virtual target point on the moving direction in the local map consisting of the measured area and the free area . The virtual target position must be arranged to the position that the planned walking trajectory is along the intention of the operator. In this paper, focusing on the reduction of the computation time of the leg allocation planning, the frame work of the real-time remote control system is proposed and it is confirmed the effectiveness by the simulation.

We developed the overlapping crawl gait that can realize stable and high speed walking in comparison with normal crawl gait. The conventional study was discussed about just straight walking in that gait. We are going to add a new study the omnidirectional walking. In this paper is discussed about the basic algorithm to realize the omnidirectional walking in the overlapping crawl gait.

This paper deals development and force measurement of a quadruped robot with elastic actuators. Even though force sensor is needed to measure ground reaction force of conventional quadruped robots, ground reaction force of developed robot can be measured with spring and position sensor installed in their joints. Since joint springs are bent by joint torques, position sensors can measure the deflection. Ground reaction force is calculated based on inverse dynamics with the measured torques.

Many moving robots to search in uneven ground have been developed, carrying robots in uneven ground is dangerous. Operators may injure during carrying in. If robots are able to throw in uneven ground, it is safety and easy to carry uneven ground. In this study, we have developed the “QRoSS II” which is a quadruped robot with a spherical shell with a shock resistance in order to enable carrying by throwing to the disaster site. In this paper, we repot on proposing approach in overcoming step and experimental results as the realization of motions for overcoming step on a quadruped robot with a spherical shell.

A constraining sole shape is known to provide stability effect when attached on the soles of passive and quasi-passive walking robots [1] [2]. This research shows the stabilizing effect of the constraining sole shape with respect to a change in road conditions when it is attached on the sole of an existing dynamic bipedal walking robot. For the constraining sole shape, we made an active constraining pin with height adjustment which is attached on the toe of an existing biped robot. The constraining pin will absorb excessive energy by the change of the center of rotation when the robot's posture exceeds from stable range. From the experiments conducted by a walking robot that performs dynamic walk in a fixed movement, it was shown that the stable walk were realized when walking on a down slope on which normal sole did not achieve stable walk.

Energy loss is a problem in legged robots. If total mechanical energy is conserved, a legged robot continues running at constant speed. If the energy loss per step could be reduced by analyzing the energy outflow from the robot phase by phase, the resulting balanced speed would be faster. A major energy loss factor is negative work (to control the joint angles) of the actuators. The purpose of this study is to establish a control method for quadruped robots, by which the walking speed is greatest with limited input energy. As a first step, we aim at clarifying the mechanism of decreasing of negative work when elasticity of trunk joint exists.

This report describes a small quadruped robot driven by pneumatic artificial muscles that can realize fast locomotion. Since the size of the robot is small, the room for the actuators is limited. We simplify the driving mechanism of each leg as three pneumatic artificial muscles and two valves, 13 muscles and 9 valves in total. By applying simple feedforward control, the robot can realize fast trot whose speed is up to 2.67 [m/s] (9.6km/h).

A mobile robot that walks on a sea floor, muddy field, and windy rough terrain surfer from unexpected roll over. For this, we proposed an approach that allows the robot to continue to walk to the same direction even if it rolls over. The proposed structure is the one having legs around the longer direction of the body. To allocate legs all around the body, sufficient large space is needed inside the robot body. In this sense, it is better to drive all the legs by only one motor with some power transmission mechanisms. However, it is not known whether the 3-D gaits are possible and how it should be designed for a given configuration by synchronized one motor drive. To this, we developed a design method which is based on a graph coloring problems. This paper describes the method and the examples for 3 and 4 faces configuration.

The goal of this study is to development a four-legged robot that can walk in various gaits. In this paper, we calculate the ZMPs of a four-legged robot in simulation, which is constructed based on our robot to evaluate its stability and investigate the relationship between the ZMPs and Walking Parameters. We compared two kinds of calculation methods using ground reaction forces and accelerations of COG of all links and found that the former is more suitable than the latter. Also, we found that the four-legged robot tended to tilt forward when the supporting legs changes. Further, we found that the walking period and the step length should be set at appropriate values

This paper proposes a hopping robot using two oblique inertial rotors. The robot has 4 DOF, and consists of a body, one leg and two oblique inertial rotors. The robot can move three dimensional space using the inertial rotors. This paper explains a control method, and veri es the control method using a simulation. We developed the hopping robot, and experimentally veri ed that the robot can walk.

In this study, we focused on the walking gait of the lizard, and try to develop quadruped with simple mechanism and a few actuators. An image sensor is equipped to the robot for environmental recognition. To compensate shaking motion caused by bending motion, a camera mounting mechanism is developed and the validity of the developed system is investigated through of object tracking experiments.

Various robots to search in uneven ground have been developed. Carrying robots in uneven ground has a risk of injury to operators. If robots are able to throw in uneven ground, it is safe, easy and valid. To do this, it must be a durable robot. We have developed a quadruped robot with spherical shell what it is able to throw in uneven ground. Furthermore the successor can roll by infinity rotation of legs and a spherical shell. In this paper, the purpose of this study is to allow locomotion by changing disposition of leg without infinity rotation.

Active Scope Camera (ASC) is a video scope for search and rescue operation, which has self-propulsion with the ciliary vibration drive proposed by the authors previously.It is difficult for the conventional ASC to get over a step. In this paper, we propose a method of getting over a step by air injection, and confirm the basic characteristics of air injection.

Various Disaster response robots are developed and used for the search and rescue operations. We demand new actuation technology for such a tough field. In this paper, we propose a new actuation technology by water jets. We developed the instrument, which activate the water hose. This consists of a water pump, hoses, and jet nozzles. We observed the motion of the activated hose by water jets. The preliminary experiments were conducted to confirm the potential of new actuation technology for disaster response robots

This paper describes the morphing omnidirectional gripper which is able to grasp various objects with the torus balloon mechanism. The deformable part of the gripper changes its shape by covering all direction of objects and makes the contacting area higher. In order to keep the high grasping force, proposed gripper does not need any additional energy thanks to the jamming effect. The design of the actual prototype model with 1 D.O.F mechanism is shown and built. In addition, the usage of functional fluids for the morphing part is proposed. The basic performance of the passive volume adjustable mechanism has been observed.

A typical UAV with a passive rotating spherical shell can provide protection while keeping the UAV stablethrough gimbal mechanism. However, the passive/random rotation and gimbal mechanism have some drawbacks when applied to a real-world mission such as for search and inspection in the event of a disaster. The random rotation of spherical shell will limit any mechanism or sensor to pass outside freely. Likewise, the camera as vital equipment is continually blocked and disturbed by the spherical shells rotation. In the case of gimbal mechanism, its frame extends the size of the spherical shell. In this paper, a novel design of UAV with four degreesof-freedom (4-DOF) passive rotation of shell protector that can manipulate the outside environment is proposed to solve primarily the mentioned issues. The system is realized using two independent hemispherical shell that provides a significant gap. Through the gap, it allows any mechanism to pass outside freely unaffected. The independent passive rotation of two (2) hemispherical shell and two (2) DOF gimbal mechanism helps maintain the stability of the UAV. An offset weight is also added that maintains the posture of two hemispherical shells allowing proper position for sensing, capturing, or manipulation. An actual prototype has been developed to illustrate the concept. A laboratory-based test flight was also conducted to evaluate its performance.

In the disaster site, mechanisms which can run on uneven and soft ground, and narrow space is needed. In this paper, we study omnidirectional crawler and propose solution to the problem for the yawing-axis helical gear transmission we devised. The yawing-axis helical gear transmission is able to allow the deflection of the height direction because end of the crawler in transverse displacement unit is driven directly. We design to reduce imbalance of power on the rack gear and the gap between transverse displacement units. In addition, we confirm the basic principal of the mechanism and effect of solution through experiment.

This paper describes the field-of-view image simulation function of the robot simulator “Choreonoid”. The current status of the function is overviewed and what is necessary to make the function more practical for disaster response robots is discussed. Based on the discussion, we improve the function so that it can generate field-of-view images that include various natural phenomena and shadows, and how to achieve it is described.

This paper presents an articulated mobile robot for urban search-and-rescue. The robot has active wheeled links connected by active joints, and is designed to move on various environments, e.g., plane, stairs, and narrow spaces. Moreover, this paper presents a method for three-dimensional locomotion which accomplishes that the body shape of an articulated mobile robot adapts to environment using its own weight. The adaptation to environment is obtained manually by making the joints passive. The experimental result demonstrates the effectiveness of a proposed method.

This paper presents a tough communication system for an articulated mobile robot. The system which consists of many micro-computers can communicate servo motors via serial communications, gather sensor information, and detect errors of both communications and servo motors. Moreover, it decreases communication time between the robot and the computer for controlling the robot, and keeps operating without stopping even if communication error in micro-computers and actuators occurs.

This paper describes an accurate attitude determination technique using multiple global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers and antennas for small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A laser survey using a small UAV needs highly accurate position and attitude information for reconstructing 3D models. The proposed technique uses the multiple GNSS antenna's positions computed by the GNSS carrier phase measurements to estimate the UAV's position and attitude. To solve the GNSS carrier phase ambiguity, the reliable ambiguity search is performed with a couple of constraints for the base line vector. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated in the static test. From the test, the proposed technique could estimate UAV's attitude in 0.1 degree accuracy. Furthermore, the accurate UAV's position could be estimated in almost 100 % availability.

In this study, a detection method of robot crawler contacting condition for our crawler type robot is described. This detection is achieved by analyzing the vibration signal gathered by a vibration sensor which is can be installed to contact with a timing belt to drive the sub-crawlers. The preliminary experiment results show the detection possibility of the proposed method.

Three dimensional data is useful to analyze traversability of unknown environment. Mobile robots equipped with camera and inertia sensor can be a solution for 3D construction of environment due to its lightness and cheapness in comparison with laser range finders. In this paper, a 3D-reconstruction-based terrain identification method is presented to predict vertical acceleration when running into an uneven terrains. Gaussian process (GP) was performed as approximation function to predict vertical acceleration using velocity of mobile robots, and terrains height and posture angle information. The results show Gaussian process can give good approximation to predict vertical acceleration with those terrains parameter, and investigated angle posture and height correlation for prediction.

Disaster robotics poses particular challenges for computer vision, both in terms of image material characteristics (due to motion blur, difficult light conditions, lack of up/down orientation, etc.), and in terms of learning data (limited availability, difficulty of annotation due to image quality, etc.). We developed a system for real-time scene-parsing, intended for use in a support system for operators of remote-controlled mobile robots employed in disaster areas. Our testbed is video footage gathered by a snake-like mobile robot exploring an (artificial) collapsed building environment. The core of the system is a relatively small-scale convolutional neural network. Our approach combines pixel-level learning with superpixel-level classification, in an effort to learn efficiently from a relatively small number of partially annotated frames. Our classification system is capable of real-time operation, and demonstrates that convolutional neural networks can be employed effectively even under the harsh conditions imposed by disaster robotics.

Collisions of a mobile robot with unnoticed objects degrade the operator’s experience and threaten the success of an exploratory mission. We investigated the effects that manipulating the duration of vibrotactile stimuli on both hands has on the perceived impact location. We used 400 Hz sine waves whose amplitude were modulated by a constant sustain phase and an decaying exponential release phase. To control the stimulus duration, we manipulated the length of the sustain phase and the damping coefficient of the release phase. The results of a preliminary psychophysical experiment suggest that differences under 20 ms influence the perception of the impact point location.

In recent years, maintenance and inspection of old buildings are one of important tasks for robots. In addition, it is expected that these robots can be applied for search and rescue mission in case of disasters. In our previous work, we developed a multi-legged robot for such tasks. In this report, we focus on a task to climb a vertical wall, and we improve our previous robot and develop a flexible leg with a sucker to claim a wall.