Behaviour diversity in a walking and climbing centipede-like virtual creature

TL;DR

This paper introduces a versatile, decentralized controller inspired by animal locomotion principles that enables a simulated centipede-like robot to exhibit six distinct movement modes across various morphologies and environments.

Contribution

A novel decentralized control framework that produces diverse locomotion behaviors in simulated centipede robots, adaptable to different shapes and terrains.

Findings

Six locomotion modes emerged in response to environmental and morphological changes.

Different parts of the robot can exhibit different locomotion modes simultaneously.

The controller demonstrates robustness and versatility across diverse settings.

Abstract

Robot controllers are often optimised for a single robot in a single environment. This approach proves brittle, as such a controller will often fail to produce sensible behavior for a new morphology or environment. In comparison, animal gaits are robust and versatile. By observing animals, and attempting to extract general principles of locomotion from their movement, we aim to design a single decentralised controller applicable to diverse morphologies and environments. The controller implements the three components 1) undulation, 2) peristalsis, and 3) leg motion, which we believe are the essential elements in most animal gaits. The controller is tested on a variety of simulated centipede-like robots. The centipede is chosen as inspiration because it moves using both body contractions and legged locomotion. For a controller to work in qualitatively different settings, it must also be able to exhibit qualitatively different behaviors. We find that six different modes of locomotion emerge from our controller in response to environmental and morphological changes. We also find that different parts of the centipede model can exhibit different modes of locomotion, simultaneously, based on local morphological features. This controller can potentially aid in the design or evolution of robots, by quickly testing the potential of a morphology, or be used to get insights about underlying locomotion principles in the centipede.