A MULTI-LAYER ANALOG/DIGITAL ARCHITECTURE FOR AUTONOMOUS LOCOMOTION IN A HEXAPOD ROBOT WITH SENSORY FEEDBACK

摘要

In this paper a new architecture based on a multi-layer analog/digital control system is introduced and applied to an autonomous hexapod robot. The robot structure that consists of 18 degrees of freedom, is controlled by a network of multiple interconnected modules. The system can be tele-operated by a PC through a wireless communication link but it can also operate autonomously by using the information gathered from the sensory system equipped on board. Therefore various methodologies on bio-robot control can be directly implemented and experimentally validated. A set of experimental tests was carried out to characterize the robot performance when employed to accomplish different tasks. The experimental results acquired during a collision avoidance task are also reported and discussed.