Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain

Yoichi Masuda; Masato Ishikawa; Akio Ishiguro

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32

Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain

Yoichi Masuda, Masato Ishikawa, Akio Ishiguro

RIEC - Human and Bio Information Systems Division

Osaka University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this paper, we develop an extremely simple earthworm-like robot as a minimal model of the wave generation principle of earthworms. The major contribution of this work is to show that autonomous and distributed peristaltic wave generation is possible without a sensor, controller, or microprocessor. The key idea behind this brainless robot is to exploit the passivity intrinsic to the low-torque DC motor in each linear joint as a control law of a rhythmic oscillator. To reproduce an earthworm-like body structure that allows body contraction and expansion, the proposed robot is composed of multiple body segments that are mutually connected by linear joints. Inflation of the body segment was reproduced by a flexible plate that connects two adjacent segments. The experiments show that the brainless robot generates peristaltic locomotion similar to that of real earthworms.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings
Editors	Nathan Lepora, Vasiliki Vouloutsi, Anna Mura, Paul F. Verschure, Jose Halloy, Michael Mangan, Tony J. Prescott
Publisher	Springer Verlag
Pages	304-315
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Print)	9783319959719
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32
Publication status	Published - 2018
Event	7th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 2018 - Paris, France Duration: 2018 Jul 17 → 2018 Jul 20

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume	10928 LNAI
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	7th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 2018
Country/Territory	France
City	Paris
Period	18/7/17 → 18/7/20

Keywords

Brainless control
Crawling
Decentralized autonomous control
Earthworm-like robot
Peristaltic motion

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32

Cite this

Masuda, Y., Ishikawa, M., & Ishiguro, A. (2018). Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain. In N. Lepora, V. Vouloutsi, A. Mura, P. F. Verschure, J. Halloy, M. Mangan, & T. J. Prescott (Eds.), Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings (pp. 304-315). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 10928 LNAI). Springer Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32

Masuda, Yoichi ; Ishikawa, Masato ; Ishiguro, Akio. / Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain. Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings. editor / Nathan Lepora ; Vasiliki Vouloutsi ; Anna Mura ; Paul F. Verschure ; Jose Halloy ; Michael Mangan ; Tony J. Prescott. Springer Verlag, 2018. pp. 304-315 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)).

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abstract = "In this paper, we develop an extremely simple earthworm-like robot as a minimal model of the wave generation principle of earthworms. The major contribution of this work is to show that autonomous and distributed peristaltic wave generation is possible without a sensor, controller, or microprocessor. The key idea behind this brainless robot is to exploit the passivity intrinsic to the low-torque DC motor in each linear joint as a control law of a rhythmic oscillator. To reproduce an earthworm-like body structure that allows body contraction and expansion, the proposed robot is composed of multiple body segments that are mutually connected by linear joints. Inflation of the body segment was reproduced by a flexible plate that connects two adjacent segments. The experiments show that the brainless robot generates peristaltic locomotion similar to that of real earthworms.",

keywords = "Brainless control, Crawling, Decentralized autonomous control, Earthworm-like robot, Peristaltic motion",

author = "Yoichi Masuda and Masato Ishikawa and Akio Ishiguro",

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Masuda, Y, Ishikawa, M & Ishiguro, A 2018, Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain. in N Lepora, V Vouloutsi, A Mura, PF Verschure, J Halloy, M Mangan & TJ Prescott (eds), Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 10928 LNAI, Springer Verlag, pp. 304-315, 7th International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems, 2018, Paris, France, 18/7/17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32

Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain. / Masuda, Yoichi; Ishikawa, Masato; Ishiguro, Akio.
Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings. ed. / Nathan Lepora; Vasiliki Vouloutsi; Anna Mura; Paul F. Verschure; Jose Halloy; Michael Mangan; Tony J. Prescott. Springer Verlag, 2018. p. 304-315 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics); Vol. 10928 LNAI).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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T1 - Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain

AU - Masuda, Yoichi

AU - Ishikawa, Masato

AU - Ishiguro, Akio

N1 - Funding Information: Supported by funding from the Tateisi Science and Technology Foundation, Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Research Fellow JP17J00601, and CREST. Publisher Copyright: © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018.

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Y1 - 2018

N2 - In this paper, we develop an extremely simple earthworm-like robot as a minimal model of the wave generation principle of earthworms. The major contribution of this work is to show that autonomous and distributed peristaltic wave generation is possible without a sensor, controller, or microprocessor. The key idea behind this brainless robot is to exploit the passivity intrinsic to the low-torque DC motor in each linear joint as a control law of a rhythmic oscillator. To reproduce an earthworm-like body structure that allows body contraction and expansion, the proposed robot is composed of multiple body segments that are mutually connected by linear joints. Inflation of the body segment was reproduced by a flexible plate that connects two adjacent segments. The experiments show that the brainless robot generates peristaltic locomotion similar to that of real earthworms.

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T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

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BT - Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings

A2 - Lepora, Nathan

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A2 - Mura, Anna

A2 - Verschure, Paul F.

A2 - Halloy, Jose

A2 - Mangan, Michael

A2 - Prescott, Tony J.

PB - Springer Verlag

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ER -

Masuda Y, Ishikawa M, Ishiguro A. Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain. In Lepora N, Vouloutsi V, Mura A, Verschure PF, Halloy J, Mangan M, Prescott TJ, editors, Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems - 7th International Conference, Living Machines 2018, Proceedings. Springer Verlag. 2018. p. 304-315. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)). doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-95972-6_32

Weak DC motors generate earthworm locomotion without a brain

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