Physical synchronization of soft self-oscillating limbs for fast and autonomous locomotion
<|reference_start|>Physical synchronization of soft self-oscillating limbs for fast and autonomous locomotion: Animals achieve robust locomotion by offloading regulation from the brain to physical couplings within the body. Contrarily, locomotion in artificial systems often depends on centralized processors. Here, we introduce a rapid and autonomous locomotion strategy with synchronized gaits emerging through physical interactions between self-oscillating limbs and the environment, without control signals. Each limb is a single soft tube that only requires constant flow of air to perform cyclic stepping motions at frequencies reaching 300 hertz. By combining several of these self-oscillating limbs, their physical synchronization enables tethered and untethered locomotion speeds that are orders of magnitude faster than comparable state-of-the-art. We demonstrate that these seemingly simple devices exhibit autonomy, including obstacle avoidance and phototaxis, opening up avenues for robust and functional robots at all scales.<|reference_end|>
@article{comoretto2024physical,
    title={Physical synchronization of soft self-oscillating limbs for fast and
  autonomous locomotion},
    author={Alberto Comoretto, Harmannus A.H. Schomaker, Johannes T.B. Overvelde},
    journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.07011},
    year={2024},
    archivePrefix={arXiv},
    eprint={2409.07011},
    primaryClass={cond-mat.soft cs.RO physics.app-ph}
}