CPG-Inspired Locomotion Control for a Snake Robot Basing on Nonlinear Oscillators

• DOI: 10.1007/s10846-016-0373-9
• Publication Date: 2016-04-29T05:43:03Z
• Authors: Zhelong Wang; Qin Gao; Hongyu Zhao
• Keywords: Robot locomotion

The article focuses on locomotion control of a snake-like robot with cardan joints using a central pattern generator (CPG) approach. A double chain structure of a CPG model is developed based on nonlinear oscillators connected with diffusive couplings. The proposed CPG model has the ability to produce stable rhythmic patterns applied both in the serpentine locomotion and sidewinding locomotion of snake robots. The global exponential stability of the model is also presented using the partial contraction theory. An important point addressed in this paper is that the proposed CPG model has explicit control parameters including not only frequencies of oscillation and amplitudes of oscillation but also phase differences between the neighbor oscillators. The method to adjust the speed and direction of the snake robot during the locomotion is discussed by modulating the control parameters in the proposed CPG model directly. Simulation results together with the experiments on a real snake robot show that the proposed CPG approach can be used to control snake robots successfully.