Reconstruction of extant animals locomotion based on decentralized control mechanism extracted from extant animals

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K15010
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 21040:Control and system engineering-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Fukuhara Akira 東北大学, 電気通信研究所, 助教 (10827611)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 自律分散制御 / 生物ロコモーション / 古生物 / 首長竜

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We attempted to reconstruct the swimming style of the plesiosaurs from the viewpoint of autonomous decentralized control by coordinating the large fins of the four limbs, which is one of the characteristics of its unique morphology. In this study, we implemented an autonomous decentralized control law based on the autonomous decentralized control speed extracted from the limb coordination of terrestrial animals to the developed plesiosaurs-like robot. The robot experiments demonstrated that the inter-flipper coordination spontaneously changes in response to various swimming conditions, realizing efficient swimming patterns. In addition, visualization experiments using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) revealed that the interference of vortex trains generated by the fore and hind flippers is important for the efficient swimming patterns of the plesiosaurs-like robot.

Free Research Field

生物規範ロボット

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で対象とした首長竜はその特異な形態から，その運動様式は多くの謎に包まれていた．こうした絶滅動物の運動復元は，絶滅動物の生活様式や絶滅動物を含む古環境の復元に対する重要な手がかりとなる．また，特異な身体構造を持つ古生物の適応的・合理的な運動様式を追求することは，現生動物のみを対象とした生物規範ロボットからは生まれない形態と制御の在りようについて考察を深めることが可能となる．