Physical synchronization of soft self-oscillating limbs for fast and autonomous locomotion

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel soft robotic system where self-oscillating limbs physically synchronize through environmental interactions, enabling fast, autonomous locomotion with obstacle avoidance and other behaviors without centralized control.

Contribution

It introduces a new approach for autonomous locomotion using soft, self-oscillating limbs that synchronize physically, eliminating the need for control signals and enabling rapid movement.

Findings

Locomotion speeds are orders of magnitude faster than existing methods.

The system exhibits autonomous behaviors like obstacle avoidance and phototaxis.

Self-oscillating limbs achieve cyclic motions at up to 300 Hz.

Abstract

Animals achieve robust locomotion by offloading regulation from the brain to physical couplings within the body. In contrast, locomotion in artificial systems often depends on centralized processors. We introduce a rapid and autonomous locomotion strategy with synchronized gaits emerging through physical interactions between self-oscillating limbs and the environment, without control signals. Each limb is a single soft tube that only requires constant flow of air to perform cyclic stepping motions at frequencies reaching 300 hertz. By combining several of these self-oscillating limbs, their physical synchronization enables locomotion speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than comparable state-of-the-art. Through body-environment dynamics, these seemingly simple devices exhibit autonomy, including obstacle avoidance, amphibious gait transitions, and phototaxis.