Raffaele Ghigliazza

Princeton, NJ, 08544-5263, Princeton, United States of America
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton

Publications:

Ghigliazza R. M., Holmes P. J.
Abstract
We develop and analyze a single-degree-of-freedom model for multilegged locomotion in the horizontal (ground) plane. The model is a hybrid dynamical system incorporating rudimentary motoneuronal activation and agonist-antagonist Hill-type muscle pairs that drive a point mass body along a line. Composition of the smooth stance phase dynamics with various discrete lift-off and touch-down protocols result in Poincaré stride-to-stride maps, and our extreme simplification of the full dynamics permits relatively complete phase plane analysis of existence and stability of periodic gaits. We use these to perform parameter studies that provide guidelines for the construction of stable periodic orbits with appropriate force and velocity signatures.
Keywords: hybrid dynamical systems, insect gaits, muscle models, periodic orbits, phase plane analysis, stability
Citation: Ghigliazza R. M., Holmes P. J.,  Towards a neuromechanical model for insect locomotion: hybrid dynamical systems , Regular and Chaotic Dynamics, 2005, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 193-225
DOI: 10.1070/RD2005v010n02ABEH000311

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