Configurable Embedded CPG-based Control for Robot Locomotion

Recently, the development of intelligent robots has benefited from a deeper understanding of the biomechanics and neurology of biological systems. Researchers have proposed the concept of Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) as a mechanism for generating an efficient control strategy for legged robots based on biological locomotion principles. Although many studies have aimed to develop robust legged locomotion controllers, relatively few of them have focused on adopting the technology for fully practical embedded hardware implementations. In this contribution, a reconfigurable hardware implementation of a CPG-based controller which is able to generate several gaits for quadruped and hexapod robots is presented. The proposed implementation is modular and configurable in order to scale up to legged robots with different degrees of freedom. Experimental results for embedded Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementations for quadruped and hexapod robot controllers are presented and analysed.