Bio-mimetic Robot Control

Question 1

What is a CPG?

Answer 1

Coupled Pattern Generator. They are biological neural networks that produce smooth and rhythmic patterned outputs without any sensory feedback.

Question 2

Where are CPG’s found in nature?

Answer 2

In vertebrates they are found in the spinal chord and the brain stem. In invertebrates they are found in the ganglia.

Question 3

Give an example of a robotic CPG.

Answer 3

Robotic salamander. It was able to move on land and water by changing the way in which it moved its body through the medium. This was achieved through changing the firing rate from the central controller to all motors.

Question 4

What is subsumption architecture?

Answer 4

It is a bottom-up, hierarchical approach, where adding another layer in series does not break the system.

Question 5

Give some applications for subsumption architecture.

Answer 5

• Education (robotic pets)
• Exploration
• Assistants (Roomba)
• Transportation (construction and agriculture industries)

Question 6

What is the philosophy behind subsumption architecture?

Answer 6

• World is its own best model
• Intelligence is in the eye of the observer
• Advantage is that the controllers are very simple and make very few assumptions
• Disadvantage is that they are limited in the tasks that they can achieve