Auke Jan IJSPEERT

Associate professor at the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) Head of the Biorobotics Laboratory (http://biorob.epfl.ch) Adjunct faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California

Wednesday 20th – 9h00-10h00

Control of locomotion: from biology to robotics

The ability to efficiently move in complex environments is a fundamental property both for animals and for robots, and the problem of locomotion control is an area in which neuroscience and robotics can fruitfully interact. Animal locomotion control is in a large part based on central pattern generators (CPGs), which are neural networks capable of producing complex rhythmic patterns while being activated and modulated by relatively simple control signals. These networks are located in the spinal cord for vertebrate animals. In this talk, I will present how we model CPGs of lower vertebrates (lamprey and salamander) using systems of coupled oscillators, and how we test the CPG models on board of amphibious robots, in particular a salamander-like robot capable of swimming and walking. The models and robots were instrumental in testing some novel hypotheses concerning the mechanisms of gait transition in vertebrate animals. I will also present control architectures based on coupled dynamical systems that we use to control the locomotion of various robots (quadruped, humanoid and reconfigurable modular robots) as well as exoskeletons for patients with locomotor deficits.