Generic Mechanism for Waveform Regulation and Synchronization of Oscillators: An Application for Robot Behavior Diversity Generation

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Abstract
While nonlinear oscillators have been widely used for central pattern generators to produce basic rhythmic signals for robot locomotion control, methods to shape and regulate the signal waveform without changing the characteristics of the oscillators have not been fully investigated, especially during the network synchronization process. To illustrate the principle and process of waveform regulation of nonlinear oscillators in detail and ensure that the influence can be controlled, we present a method for waveform regulation and synchronization and analyze the relationship of different factors (e.g., initial conditions, network parameters, phase, and waveform regulation factors) in synchronization deviation. Then, the method is indicated to be effective in other commonly used nonlinear oscillators and neural oscillators. As an example application, a three-layer behavioral control architecture for a legged robot is constructed based on the proposed method. Modules for the body behavior, leg coordination, and single-leg adjustment are established to realize diverse robot behaviors. The effectiveness of the method is validated by a series of experiments. The results prove that the method performs well in terms of signal control accuracy, behavior pattern diversity, and smooth motion transition.
Funding Information
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (51605039)
  • Thirteenth Five-Year Plan Equipment Preresearch Field Fund (61403120407)
  • China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018T111005, 2016M592728)
  • Shaanxi International Science and Technology Cooperation Project (2020KW-064)
  • Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, CHD (300102259308, 300102259401)
  • China Scholarship Council

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