A robot with cockroach inspired actuation and control

Abstract

Robot V has been constructed with inspiration from the death head cockroach, Blaberus discoidalis. Its relative leg segment lengths, joint degrees of freedom, exoskeleton structure, relatively light legs, and location of its center of mass are all similar to those of the cockroach. In an attempt to take further advantage of the neuromechanics of the animal, actuators with muscle-like properties have been employed. The robot's controller includes biologically inspired gait generation and inverse kinematics components. An actuator tensioning reflex which approximates the function of muscle tone is introduced, and resulting improvements to system response are shown