Decentralized Coordination Mechanism between Neck and Limbs for Efficient Quadrupedal Walking

An optional robotic arm unit, like animals' neck, allows quadruped robot to achieve multifunctional tasks such as manipulation and patrol. However, increases in body weight due to the neck unit will make energetic issues in legged robots' locomotion more serious. This study presents a minimal decentralized coordination mechanism between a neck and limbs, especially focusing on quadruped mammals' nodding behaviors for efficient walking. The results of two dimensional (2D) simulation suggest that bilateral sensory feedback mechanism between neck and limbs plays essential roles for the quadruped robot to coordinate neck and limbs in response to the physical situation of the body parts, achieving efficient quadrupedal walking.