SIMUUN: A SIMULATION ENVIRONMENT Abstract FOR UNDULATORY LOCOMOTION

• Main Authors: M. Sfakiotakis, D. P. Tsakiris
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Key Words Biomechanical modelling; undulatory locomotion; robotics; biology; Anguilla anguilla eel; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.134.2759; http://www.ics.forth.gr/~tsakiris/Papers/IJMS_2006.pdf

This paper presents SIMUUN, a block-based simulation environment, which has been developed on top of Matlab/Simulink TM, in order to facilitate research into various aspects of undulatory locomotion in biology and robotics. Simulations of snake-like mechanisms are set up in this environment by connecting customizable SIMUUN body segment modules via appropriate joint blocks, which are activated either by explicit or by neuromuscular joint control modules, to propagate a travelling wave along the mechanism. Several force models are included in SIMUUN to characterize the interaction with the locomotion environment, and emulate crawling, walking and swimming. The simulation tools developed were used to study anguilliform swimming in robotics and in biology, and assess the effect of different body configurations on gait generation. Related simulation results are presented to illustrate the versatility of these tools and the potential of their use in a variety of domains.