Locomotion control for quadruped robot based on Central Pattern Generators

Abstract

Central Pattern Generators (CPG) is widely used for robot locomotion control because of its biological nature advantages. CPG networks are located in the spinal cord of vertebrates and responsible for the generation of rhythmic movements. This paper presents a locomotion control framework for quadruped robot. The framework comprises two parts: CPG network and workspace trajectories generator. CPG network is used to generate different rhythmic signals for different gaits. The workspace trajectories generator is related to calculate desired position of foot at a given moment. This locomotion control framework not only gets the merit of biological nature from CPG, but it also retains the diversity of the control method based on models. Only several parameters in this method need to be modulated to realize the periodic movements. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the practicality and simplicity of the proposed method.