Publications related to Effects of passive and active joint compliance in quadrupedal locomotion

Online Multicontact Receding Horizon Planning via Value Function Approximation

Planning multicontact motions in a receding horizon fashion requires a value function to guide the planning with respect to the future, e.g., building momentum to traverse large obstacles. Traditionally, the value function is approximated by computing traj ...

Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc2024

Augmenting locomotor perception by remapping tactile foot sensation to the back

Mohamed Bouri, Olaf Blanke, Oliver Alan Kannape, Atena Fadaeijouybari, Selim Jean Habiby Alaoui

Background :Sensory reafferents are crucial to correct our posture and movements, both reflexively and in a cognitively driven manner. They are also integral to developing and maintaining a sense of agency for our actions. In cases of compromised reafferen ...

BioMed Central2024

Investigating the neuromechanical control of healthy gait modulation and pathological gaits observed in cerebral palsy using neuromuscular simulations

Andrea Di Russo

Locomotion is based on a sophisticated interaction among the environment, the musculoskeletal system, the spinal cord, and the brain locomotor areas. Quality of life is strongly related to the proper capability of this movement. However, many pathologies, ...

EPFL2023

Neuromechanical Simulations of Animats with Decentralised Control

Jonathan Patrick Arreguit O'Neill

The transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments represents a significant event in the history of evolution. For this transition to occur, animals had to adapt their morphology, physiology and locomotory skills to handle the challenges and interacti ...

EPFL2023

Investigating the roles of reflexes and central pattern generators in the control and modulation of human locomotion using a physiologically plausible neuromechanical model

Auke Ijspeert, Andrea Di Russo, Stéphane Armand, Dimitar Yuriev Stanev, Anushree Bapusaheb Sabnis

Objective. Studying the neural components regulating movement in human locomotion is obstructed by the inability to perform invasive experimental recording in the human neural circuits. Neuromechanical simulations can provide insights by modeling the locom ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2023

Puppeteer and Marionette: Learning Anticipatory Quadrupedal Locomotion Based on Interactions of a Central Pattern Generator and Supraspinal Drive

Auke Ijspeert, Milad Shafiee Ashtiani, Guillaume Denis Antoine Bellegarda

Quadruped animal locomotion emerges from the interactions between the spinal central pattern generator (CPG), sensory feedback, and supraspinal drive signals from the brain. Computational models of CPGs have been widely used for investigating the spinal co ...

IEEE2023

The neuromechanics of animal locomotion: From biology to robotics and back

Auke Ijspeert, Pavan P Ramdya

Robotics and neuroscience are sister disciplines that both aim to understand how agile, efficient, and robust locomotion can be achieved in autonomous agents. Robotics has already benefitted from neuromechanical principles discovered by investigating anima ...

AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE2023

Integration of feedforward and feedback control in the neuromechanics of vertebrate locomotion: a review of experimental, simulation and robotic studies

Auke Ijspeert

Animal locomotion is the result of complex and multi-layered interactions between the nervous system, the musculo-skeletal system and the environment. Decoding the underlying mechanisms requires an integrative approach. Comparative experimental biology has ...

Company Biologists Ltd2023

Beyond undulation! Body morphology and sensing components of elongated animals and robots reveal skills to maintain competent locomotion

Laura Isabel Paez Coy

Locomotion is an essential evolutive innovation of living beings that allows them to colonize and dominate the planet. As diverse as animal morphologies are (living) and were (extinct), their locomotion modalities are also diverse. In particular, animal mo ...

EPFL2023

Combining accelerometry with allometry for estimating daily energy expenditure in joules when in-lab calibration is unavailable

Kamiar Aminian, Pritish Chakravarty

Background All behaviour requires energy, and measuring energy expenditure in standard units (joules) is key to linking behaviour to ecological processes. Animal-borne accelerometers are commonly used to infer proxies of energy expenditure, termed 'dynamic ...

BMC2023

Early decoding of walking tasks with minimal set of EMG channels

Silvestro Micera, Federica Barberi, Eugenio Anselmino, Francesco Iberite

Objective. Powered lower-limb prostheses relying on decoding motor intentions from non-invasive sensors, like electromyographic (EMG) signals, can significantly improve the quality of life of amputee subjects. However, the optimal combination of high decod ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2023

Online Bipedal Locomotion Adaptation for Stepping on Obstacles Using a Novel Foot Sensor

Milad Shafiee Ashtiani

In this paper, we present a novel control architecture for the online adaptation of bipedal locomotion on inclined obstacles. In particular, we introduce a novel, cost-effective, and versatile foot sensor to detect the proximity of the robot's feet to the ...

IEEE2022

A computational modeling approach to study the neuromechanics of terrestrial locomotion

Shravan Tata Ramalingasetty

The main theme of my thesis will be to use neuro-muscular modeling techniques to study locomotion of terrestrial mammals. Locomotion is the ability of animals to interact with the environment to propel themselves in space. It involves co-ordination and pre ...

EPFL2022

High light quantity suppresses locomotion in symbiotic Aiptasia

Anders Meibom, Nils Rädecker, Claudia Isabella Pogoreutz

Many cnidarians engage in endosymbioses with microalgae of the family Symbiodiniaceae. In this association, the fitness of the cnidarian host is closely linked to the photosynthetic performance of its microalgal symbionts. Phototaxis may enable semi-sessil ...

2022

Gait-dependent Traversability Estimation on the k-rock2 Robot

Auke Ijspeert, Matthew Alfonso Estrada, Mohammadreza Ebrahimi

Assessing the traversability of rugged terrain is a difficult challenge for legged robots, especially when they implement multiple, distinct gaits. We tackle this problem on the k-rock2 amphibious, sprawling gait robot by training a gait-dependent traversa ...

IEEE2022

CPG-RL: Learning Central Pattern Generators for Quadruped Locomotion

Auke Ijspeert, Guillaume Denis Antoine Bellegarda

In this letter, we present a method for integrating central pattern generators (CPGs), i.e. systems of coupled oscillators, into the deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework to produce robust and omnidirectional quadruped locomotion. The agent learns to ...

IEEE-INST ELECTRICAL ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS INC2022

Advancing coordination control of multi-limb robotic tasks: application to bimanual dynamic manipulation and bipedal reactive locomotion

Michael Bosongo Bombile

Bi-manual picking up of objects to toss them on a conveyor belt are dynamic manipulation activities generated daily in the industry. Such repetitive and physically demanding tasks are still done largely by humans for lack of similarly fast, precise, and ro ...

EPFL2022

Concurrent Evolution of Biomechanical and Physiological Parameters With Running-Induced Acute Fatigue

Kamiar Aminian, Anisoara Ionescu, Gaëlle Prigent, Salil Apte, Vincent Gremeaux

Understanding the influence of running-induced acute fatigue on the homeostasis of the body is essential to mitigate the adverse effects and optimize positive adaptations to training. Fatigue is a multifactorial phenomenon, which influences biomechanical, ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Mechanistic Understanding of Neurobehavioral Effects of Insecticides on the Larvae of Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Sarah-Katharina Könemann

Due to conservation of neuronal functioning across phyla, molecular targets of insecticides are similar in insects and vertebrates. Insecticides thus pose a risk to aquatic vertebrates, such as fish, and potentially cause neurotoxic effects. Although these ...

EPFL2022

Sensory modulation of gait characteristics in human locomotion: A neuromusculoskeletal modeling study

Auke Ijspeert, Andrea Di Russo, Stéphane Armand, Dimitar Yuriev Stanev

The central nervous system of humans and other animals modulates spinal cord activity to achieve several locomotion behaviors. Previous neuromechanical models investigated the modulation of human gait changing selected parameters belonging to CPGs (Central ...

2021