Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot

Based on Central Pattern Generator Network

Dong Bo Sheng, Tian Shui Gao, Huy Hung Nguyen,

Trong Hai Nguyen, Hak Kyeong Kim, and Sang Bong Kim(&)

Department of Mechanical Design Engineering, Pukyong National University,

Busan 48547, South Korea
shengdongbo@naver.com, tianshuig@gmail.com,
nghhung74@gmail.com, haintmitu@yahoo.com,
{hakkyeong,kimsb}@pknu.ac.kr

Abstract. This paper presents locomotion control of a hexapod robot based on

central pattern generator (CPG) network. To do this task, the followings are
done. First, kinematic modeling of one leg with four links and four rotational
joints of hexapod robot is proposed using Denavit Hartenberg (DH) convention.
Second, the walking gait of hexapod robot is generated by central pattern
generator network. Third, mapping functions are proposed to map the output of
CPG network into a desired trajectory of the end effector of the hexapod robot. It
is difficult and complex to get the angles of four rotational joints of one leg using
inverse kinematics. To solve this problem, differential kinematics algorithm is
used to realize the end effector following the trajectory obtained by the mapping
functions. Finally, simulation and experimental results for walking motion of
one leg of the hexapod robot are shown to prove the effectiveness and appli-
cability of the proposed controller.

Keywords: Central pattern generator (CPG)
Hexapod robot
DH

convention
Differential kinematics algorithm

1 Introduction

In recent years, applying the mechanism in animal’s central neural system to control
robot’s locomotion is becoming more and more popular. Central Pattern Generator
(CPG) is a biological neural network, which can produce rhythmic movement of
animals such as walking, running, chewing, respiration, heartbeat, etc. The earliest
CPG model was proposed by Cohen et al. [1] in 1980s through the research on the
dissection of a lamprey spinal cord. In Matsuoka [2], a necessary and sufficient con-
dition for the oscillator to sustain stable oscillations was shown. In Matsuoka [3], the
frequency and pattern control that could be realized by the model was described.
Kimura et al. used the Matsuoka neuron models with two neurons mutually inhibited to
generate the oscillation and to control the walking of a quadruped robot [4–6].
Manoonpong et al. [8] achieved some high level behaviors of the octopod robot such as
reflex and escape through the sensor-driven neural control. Xu et al. [9] designed a
CPGs network using six Matsuoka oscillators to control the hip joint angle of a

© Springer International Publishing AG 2017

V.H. Duy et al. (eds.), AETA 2016: Recent Advances in Electrical Engineering and Related
Sciences, Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 415, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-50904-4_64
612 D.B. Sheng et al.

hexapod robot. However, the attitude of the hexapod robot body in [9] cannot be
controlled. From above researches, most of CPG-inspired control methods focused on
using CPG to generate control signal in joint space. However, many CPG units are
required to control the multi-degrees of freedom, so too many parameters need to be
modulated. Therefore, a desired trajectory generating method for a desired gait of the
end effectors of the hexapod robot and its tracking controller design method are need.
To solve the above problems, this paper proposes a locomotion control of a hex-
apod robot with four links and four rotational joints based on CPG network and
mapping functions. The CPG network model is introduced based on the Kimura’s
neural oscillators, which is used to generate trajectory of the end effector of each leg.
To do this task, the following are done. First, kinematic modeling of one leg with four
links and four rotational joints of the hexapod robot is proposed using Denavit
Hartenberg (DH) convention. Second, the walking gait of hexapod robot is generated
by central pattern generator network. Third, mapping functions are proposed to map the
output of CPG network into a desired trajectory of the end effector of the hexapod
robot. It is difficult and complex to get the angles of four rotational joints using inverse
kinematics. To solve this problem, differential kinematics algorithm is used to realize
the end effector following the trajectory obtained by the mapping functions. Finally,
simulation and experimental results for walking motion of one leg of the hexapod robot
are shown to prove the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed controller.

2 System Description and Kinematics Modeling

2.1 System Description
Figure 1 show configuration of the proposed hexapod robot. Figure 1(a) shows that the
six-legged robot consists of body and legs. Each leg has four joints which are operated
by 4 servo motors as shown in Fig. 1(b). The mySen-M sensor is used to measure the
angles of robot body. The host computer sends command to the micro-controller by
Bluetooth through RS232 interface.

(a) Overall configuration (b) Configuration of one leg

Fig. 1. Configuration of the proposed hexapod walking robot

 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 613

2.2 Kinematics Modeling of One Leg of the Hexapod Robot

Figure 2 shows the configuration of one leg of the hexapod robot. A coordinate of
ðx0 ; y0 ; z0 Þ is located on joint 0. The other coordinates are located on each end of link.
Denavit Hartenberg (DH) parameters are obtained by these coordinates for forward
kinematics as shown in Table 1.

Fig. 2. Configuration of one leg of hexapod robot

Table 1. DH parameters of one leg

Joint hi ai ai di
0 h1 p=2 a1 0
1 h2 p=2 a2 0
2 h3 p=2 a3 d3
3 h4 0 a4 0

where Oi , hi denote of the origin of the ith joint and rotational angle around zi axis with
i ¼ 0; 1; 2; 3.
The homogeneous transformation matrix can be obtained by DH parameters are the
following matrices.
2 3 2 3
c1 0 s1 a1 c 1 c2 0 s2 a2 c 2
6s a1 s 1 7 6s c2 a2 s 2 7
6 1 0 c1 7 1 6 2 0 7
0
1T ¼6 7; 2 T ¼ 6 7
40 1 0 0 5 40 1 0 0 5
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
2 3 2 3
c3 0 s3 a3 c 3 c4 s4 0 a4 c 4
6s a3 s 3 7 6s a4 s 4 7
6 3 0 c3 7 3 6 4 c4 0 7
3T ¼ 6 7; 4 T ¼ 6
2
7
40 1 0 0 5 40 0 1 0 5
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
614 D.B. Sheng et al.

where ci ¼ cos hi ; si ¼ sin hi , and ij T is the transformation matrix from joint j coordi-
nate system to joint i coordinate system.
The end effector position vector Pe ¼ ½xe ye ze T can be calculated by forward
kinematic equation kðhÞ. The forward kinematic equation is shown as follows:

kðhÞ ¼ Pe ¼ ½xe ye ze T ð1Þ

x0ei ¼ a1 c1i  a4 c4i ðs1i s3i  c1i c2i c3i Þ þ a2 c1i c2i
ð2Þ
þ d3 c1i s2i  a3 s1i s3i þ a3 c1i c2i c3i  a4 c1i s2i s4i

y0ei ¼ a1 s1i þ a4 c4i ðc1i s3i  s1i c2i c3i Þ þ a2 s1i c2i
ð3Þ
þ a3 c1i s3i  d3 s1i s2i þ a3 s1i c2i c3i  a4 s1i s2i s4i

z0ei ¼ d3 c2i  a2 s2i  a3 c3i s2i  a4 c2i s4i  a4 s2i c3i c4i ð4Þ

where h ¼ ½h1 ; h2 ; h3 ; h4 T is angular position vector of each joint and is the solution of
(2)–(4) using the inverse kinematics.

3 Walking Gait Generated by CPG Network

A leg cycle is composed of two phases called swing phase and retract phase. As shown
in Fig. 3, the swing phase is the period while the leg moves from Posterior Extreme
Position (PEP) to the Anterior Extreme Position (AEP) which is the position at the end
of the swing phase. The retract phase is the period while the leg moves from AEP to the
PEP which is the position at the end of the retract phase.

Fig. 3. Leg cycle of one leg

A method of walking forward with legs is called a gait. There are many gaits used
by animals. A gait can be described by the concepts of cycle time (T), duty factors (δ),
and relative phase in [11]. The cycle time is the sum of swing phase time and retract
phase time.
 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 615

T ¼ Tsw þ Trt ð5Þ

where Tsw is the swing phase time and Trt is the retract phase time. The duty factor
d ¼ Trt =T of a leg is the time ratio of retract phase per cycle time.

3.1 Neuron Oscillator in CPG Model

CPG model is used to generate rhythmic signal to control rhythmic locomotion for a
hexapod walking robot. In this paper, the CPG model is described as Kimura’s neuron
oscillator (NO) based on Matsuoka’s neuron model [2, 3]. The dynamics of each
neuron is given by the following second-order system of differential equations so that
the total system is a fourth-order one:
8
> Pn
>
> su_ fe;f gi ¼ ufe;f gi þ wfe yff ;egi  bvfe;f gi þ wij yfe;f gj þ u0 þ feedfe;f gi ;
>
< j¼1
s0 v_ fe;f gi ¼ vfe;f gi þ yfe;f gi ; ð6Þ
>
>
>
> yfe;f gi ¼ maxðufe;f gi ; 0Þ:
:
ði; j ¼ 1;


; nÞ

where the subscripts e, f, i and j denote an extensor neuron, a flexor neuron, the ith NO
and the jth NO, respectively. ufe;f gi is uei or ufi , that is, the inner state of an extensor
neuron or a flexor neuron of the ith NO; vfe;f gi is a variable representing the degree of
the self-inhibition effect of the neuron; yei and yfi are the outputs of extensor and flexor
neurons; u0 is an external input with a constant rate; feedfe;f gi is a feedback signal from
the robot, that is, a joint angle, angular velocity and so on; and b is a constant
representing the degree of the self-inhibition influence on the inner state. The quantities
s and s0 are time constants of ufe;f gi and vfe;f gi ; wfe is a connection weight between
flexor and extensor neurons; wij is a connection weight between neurons of the ith and
jth NO. The output of a CPG is a phase signal yi as follows:

yi ¼ yei þ yfi ð7Þ

3.2 Gait Planning Based on CPG Network

For a hexapod robot, it is necessary to control six legs, so a CPG network is designed
based on six CPG models, each of which is used to control one leg. The six oscillators
are vertexes of digraph. All vertexes are connected each other as shown in Fig. 4. L1,
L2, L3 represents the left three legs, and R1, R2, R3 represents the right three legs. The
adjacency matrix of the digraph, W = ½wij 66 is used as the connection weight matrix
of CPG network. Its element wij is defined as the connection weight from oscillator j to
oscillator i. Three principles to set W are proposed as follows:
616 D.B. Sheng et al.

Fig. 4. CPG network of the hexapod Fig. 5. Walking cycle of the tripod gait
walking robot

• There is no self-inhibition in CPG network. So self-connecting weight of each leg is

zero, and all elements in the leading diagonal of W are zero.
• Inhibition between any two legs is reciprocal and coequal. So W is a symmetric
matrix.
• If two legs are in the same phase, exciting connections are adopted between the two
oscillators and their corresponding elements are set to positive number. If two legs
are in the different phase, inhibiting connections are adopted and their corre-
sponding elements are set to negative number.
Although the CPG model contains two nonlinear elements, a stable oscillation can
be produced by deriving an exact condition for system [2] as follows:
s
1þ \wfe \1 þ b ð8Þ
s0
In this paper, tripod gait is chosen as the walking gait for hexapod walking and the
duty factor of the gait is d ¼ 1=2.
The walking cycle imitating this gait is shown in Fig. 5. When the robot walks,
three legs support the body and the other three legs lift up and move for next walking
motion.
Each state time in one step cycle T of the tripod gait is designed as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 6. Each state time in one cycle time of the tripod gait
 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 617

3.3 Mapping Function

In this paper, mapping functions are designed to map the output of CPG network into
end effector trajectories of the corresponding legs. The end effector trajectory of each
leg is designed as a set of desired position vector Pbdi ðtÞ at time t for the end effector to
track. Figure 7 shows the end effector trajectory of one leg of the hexapod robot.

Fig. 7. End effector trajectory of one leg

where ðx; y; zÞ is the coordinate of the end effector. ðgx ; gy ; gz Þ is the position coordinate
of the end effector. b is the orientation angle of the hexapod robot. r is the distance of
one step. Pb0i is the default standing position vector of leg i with respect to body frame.
PbAEPi is the AEP vector of leg i.
For each leg, to achieve the desired position from the default standing position,
Pbdi ðtÞ is calculated as follows:

Pbdi ðtÞ ¼ Pb0i þ Tm ðtÞ; Tm ðtÞ ¼ ½gx ðtÞ; gy ðtÞ; gz ðtÞT ð9Þ

The path of the end effector of each leg is designed as follows:

For the trajectory of the end effector in swing phase, the mapping functions are
shows as (10).
8
>
> gx ðtÞ ¼ r sin bðt=Tsw Þ
<
gy ðtÞ ¼ r cos bðt=Tsw Þ
ð10Þ
>
> g ðtÞ ¼ kz y(t)
: z
0  t  Tsw

For the trajectory of end effector in retract phase, mapping functions are given by
8
>
> gx ðtÞ ¼ r sin b½ðT  tÞ=Trt 
<
gy ðtÞ ¼ r cos b½ðT  tÞ=Trt 
ð11Þ
>
> g ðtÞ ¼ 0
: z
Tsw  t  T
618 D.B. Sheng et al.

where yðtÞ is the output of CPG network, kz is the amplitude gain coefficients, t is the
time that corresponds to the pointer of the mapping process.
The orientation angle is assumed to be b ¼ p=2ðradÞ. Using the mapping function,
the output of the CPG network rather than 0 (yðtÞ [ 0) is mapped to the swing phase,
and the output of the CPG network less or equal to 0 (yðtÞ  0) is mapped to the retract
phase. Because the output of CPG network is not steady at the beginning, so the
mapping process begins from the steady states of the CPG network output.

3.4 End Effector Trajectory Tracking Controller Design

Forward kinematics and inverse kinematics equations are used for calculating the angle
of each joint corresponding to a given end effector position. However, it is difficult and
complex to get the angle of four rotational joints by using invers kinematics, and it is
not always possible to find their solution. To solve this problem, the differential
kinematics algorithm is used to solve inverse kinematics problem easily.
For one leg of the hexapod robot, an end effector position error vector between the
desired end effector position vector and the end effector position vector of leg i with
respect to body frame is defined as follows:

ebi ¼ Pbdi  Pbei ð12Þ

where Pbdi ¼ ½xbdi ybdi zbdi T is the desired end effector position vector with respect to
body frame of leg i.
In this paper, to keep the end effector in the desired position, the Jacobian relating
the translational velocity of the end effector with the joint angular velocity is consid-
ered. The translational velocity of the end effector can be expressed as the time
derivative of the end effector position vector of leg i with respect to body frame Pbei .

@P b
P_ bei ¼ ei h_ i ¼ JAi
b
ðhi Þh_ i ð13Þ
@hi
b
where JAi ðhi Þ is the analytical Jacobian of Pbei with respect to hi as:

@Pbei @kðhi Þ
b
JAi ðhi Þ ¼ ¼ ð14Þ
@hi @hi

The time derivative of (12) can be written as follows:

e_ bi ¼ P_ bdi  JAi
b
ðhi Þh_ i ð15Þ

The candidate Lyapunov function (clf) can be chosen in the following positive
definite quadratic form:
 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 619

1
Vi ðebi Þ ¼ ðebi ÞT Kebi ; Vi ðebi Þ [ 0 for 8ebi 6¼ 0; Vi ð0Þ ¼ 0 ð16Þ
2
where K is a symmetric positive definite matrix.
Differentiating (16) with respect to time and substituting (15) into it, the derivative
of the clf can be derived as follows:

V_ i ðebi Þ ¼ ðebi ÞT K e_ bi ¼ ðebi ÞT K P_ bdi  ðebi ÞT KJAi

b
ðhi Þh_ i ð17Þ

One leg of the hexapod robot has three degrees of freedom but it has four joints.
Therefore, this is a redundant manipulator case. The redundancy can be used for other
additional constraint of joint configuration. An objective function of the joint variables
xðhi Þ of the ith leg can be chosen as follows [7]:

1
xðhi Þ ¼  h23i ð18Þ
2
The additional vector q_ 0i for the constraint of joint configuration is defined as
 T
@xðhi Þ
q_ 0i ¼ k0 ; k0 [ 0 ð19Þ
@hi

From (18) and (19), q_ 0i can be rewritten as

q_ 0i ¼ k0 ½0 0  h3i 0T ð20Þ

A control input vector is chosen as angular joint velocity vector of leg i as follows:

h_ i ¼ ðJAi
b T b þ b
Þ ðhi ÞKebi þ ðIn  ðJAi Þ JAi Þq_ 0i ð21Þ

b þ
where ðJAi Þ is right pseudo-inverse of JAi
b
as

b þ b T b b T 1
ðJAi Þ ¼ ðJAi Þ ðJAi ðJAi Þ Þ ð22Þ

Substituting (21) into (17) leads to

V_ i ðebi Þ ¼ ðebi ÞT K P_ bdi  ðebi ÞT KJAi

b b T
ðJAi Þ Kebi  ðebi ÞT KJAi
b b þ b
ðIn  ðJAi Þ JAi Þq_ 0
b T _b b T b T b T
ð23Þ
¼ ðei Þ K Pdi  ðei Þ KJAi ðJAi Þ Kei  ðei Þ KðJAi  JAi Þq_ 0
b b b b

If Pbdi is constant, because the third term of (23) is zero, (17) is negative definite as
follows:

V_ i ðebi Þ ¼ ðebi ÞT KJAi

b b T
ðJAi Þ Kebi
b T
ð24Þ
¼ ½ðJAi Þ Kebi T ðJAi
b T
Þ Kebi \0
620 D.B. Sheng et al.

The condition V_ i \0 and Vi [ 0 implies that ebi ¼ 0 when time t ! 1, i.e., the
system is asymptotically stable.
The joint angle are used to control the servomotors. The joint angle can be cal-
culated in discrete time by the Euler integration method. With sampling time Dt, if the
joint angles and angular velocities at time tk are known, the joint angles at time
tk þ 1 ¼ tk þ Dt can be computed as follows:

htik þ 1 ¼ htik þ h_ tik Dt ð25Þ

Figure 8 shows the block diagram of walking controller as follows:

Fig. 8. Block diagram of the proposed controller

4 Simulation and Experimental Results

4.1 Gait Planning Simulation Results

The parameters and initial values for the simulation of CPG network are listed in
Table 2.
Figure 9 shows the output signals of CPG network for tripod gait. In Fig. 9, L1, L3
and R2 are in same phase, and L2, R1 and R3 are in same phase. The duty factor of the
proposed tripod gait is 1/2.

4.2 Simulation and Experimental Results

In this paper, the simulation results of one leg of the proposed hexapod robot are shown
to prove the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed controller. The parameters
and initial values used for the simulation are listed in Table 3.
Figure 10 shows error values of the end effector position vector for one walking
cycle time. After 0.3 s, the errors converge to zero from initial errors since the end
effector reaches Pd1 with lifting up state of swing phase. From 0.5 s to 1 s, the errors
are increased for the end effector to reach Pd2 and converge to zero rapidly. And then,
the end effector puts down and reaches Pd2 at 1 s. From 1 s to 2 s, the end effector in
 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 621

Table 2. Parameter values of CPG network

Parameters Values
Rising time constant s 0.4
Adaptability time constant s0 0.5
Self-inhibition b 5
External input u0 2
Connecting weight wfe 2
Feedback signal feedfe;f gi 0
2 3
Connecting weight matrix wij 0 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4
6 0:4 0 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 7
6 7
6 0:4 0:4 0 0:4 0:4 0:4 7
6 0:4 0:4 0:4 7
6 0:4 0 0:4 7
4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0 0:4 5
0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0:4 0
2 3
Initial value 0:0139 0:0243 0:0211 0:0026
2 3
ue1 ve1 uf 1 vf 1 6 0:0265 0:0049 0:0167 0:0130 7
6 7
6 ue2 ve2 uf 2 vf 2 7 6 0:0132 0:0115 0:0135 0:0107 7
6 7 6 0:0236 0:0153 0:0131 0:0089 7
6 ue3 ve3 uf 3 vf 3 7 6 7
6 7 4 0:0090 0:0021 0:0134 0:0022 5
6 ue4 ve4 uf 4 vf 4 7
6 7
4 ue5 ve5 uf 5 vf 5 5 0:0272 0:0003 0:0206 0:0057
ue5 ve5 uf 5 vf 5

the retract phase tracks the trajectory from Pd2 to Pd0 and the errors are bounded within
 0:5 mm.
Figure 11 shows the simulation results and experimental results of joint angular
velocities of one leg of the hexapod for one walking cycle. From Fig. 11, the angular
velocities are smooth in swing phase after 1 s. In retract phase, the angular velocities of
joints 4 and 2 change sharply since the end effector tracks the trajectory. The desired
positions are closely in this phase.

1
L1

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
L2

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
L3

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
R1

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
R2

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1
R3

-1
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Time (seconds)

Fig. 9. Output of CPG network for tripod gait

622 D.B. Sheng et al.

Table 3. Parameters used for the simulation

Parameters Values Initial values Values
a1 (mm) 67 h1 (rad) 0
a2 (mm) 60.5 h2 (rad) p=2
a3 (mm) 22.5 h3 (rad) 0
a4 (mm) 112.7 h4 (rad) 0
d3 (mm) 62 xe0 (mm) 0.129
ye0 (mm) 0
ze0 (mm) -0.188

Fig. 10. Tracking errors of the end effector of one leg for one walking cycle time

Fig. 11. Joint angular velocities of one leg for one walking cycle time

Figure 12 shows the simulation and experimental results of angle of each joint of
one leg for one walking cycle time. The angles of the joints are smooth, and the angle
of joint 3 is zero since the objective function xðqÞ is applied. From Fig. 12, the
experimental results of four joint angles are similar with simulation results.
 Locomotion Control of a Hexapod Robot 623

Fig. 12. Joint angles of one leg for one walking cycle time

Fig. 13. Trajectory of the end effector of one leg for one walking cycle time

Figure 13 shows the trajectory of the end effector of one leg for one walking cycle
time. Leg movement has two states: swing phase and retract phase. In lift up state, the
end effector of the leg moves from stand position Pe0 in (a) to lift up position Pd1 in
(b) and then contacts ground position Pd2 in (c). In retract phase state, the end effector
tracks the trajectory from Pd2 to Pe0 shown as dotted line in (d).

5 Conclusion

This paper presented locomotion control of a hexapod robot with four links and four
rotational joints based on CPG network. Our CPG network model was introduced
based on the Kimura’s neural oscillators, which was known as a neural network that
generates rhythmic movements. To do this task, the following were done. First,
kinematic modeling of one leg with four links and four rotational joints of the hexapod
robot was proposed using Denavit Hartenberg (DH) convention. Second, the walking
gait of hexapod robot was generated by central pattern generator network. Third,
mapping functions were proposed to map the output of CPG network into a desired
624 D.B. Sheng et al.

trajectory of the end effector of the hexapod robot. It is difficult and complex to get the
angles of four rotational joints using inverse kinematics. To solve this problem, dif-
ferential kinematics algorithm was used to realize the end effector following the tra-
jectory obtained by the mapping functions. Finally, simulation and experimental results
for walking motion of one leg of the hexapod robot were shown to prove the effec-
tiveness and applicability of the proposed controller. The end effector position errors of
one leg are bounded within ±0.5 mm.

Acknowledgment. This study is a part of the results of the R & D project. Development of
multi-legged underwater walking-flying robot supported by Korea Government. Authors are debt
to appreciate Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries for the full support to this work.

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