This paper uses geometric methods to study basic problems in the mechanics and control of locomotion. We consider in detail the case of "undulatory locomotion," in which net motion is generated by coupling internal shape changes with external nonholonomic constraints. Such locomotion problems have a natural geometric interpretation as a connection on a principal fiber bundle. The properties of connections lead to simplified results for studying both dynamics and issues of controllability for locomotion systems. We demonstrate the utility of this approach using a novel "Snakeboard" and a multi-segmented serpentine robot which is modeled after Hirose's Active Cord Mechanism.

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This paper addresses the optimal control and selection of gaits in a class of nonholonomic locomotion systems that exhibit group symmetries. We study optimal gaits for the snakeboard, a representative example of this class of systems. We employ Lagrangian reduction techniques to simplify the optimal control problem and describe a general framework and an algorithm to obtain numerical solutions to this problem. This work employs optimal control techniques to study the optimality of gaits and issues involving gait transitions. The general framework provided in this paper can easily be applied to other examples of biological and robotic locomotion. KEY WORDS---optimal control, robotic locomotion, geometric mechanics, locomotive gaits 1.

In this paper we establish necessary conditions for optimal control using the ideas of Lagrangian reduction in the sense of reduction under a symmetry group. The techniques developed here are designed for Lagrangian mechanical control systems with symmetry. The benefit of such an approach is that it makes use of the special structure of the system, especially its symmetry structure and thus it leads rather directly to the desired conclusions for such systems. Lagrangian reduction can do in one step what one can alternatively do by applying the Pontryagin Maximum Principle followed by an application of Poisson reduction. The idea of using Lagrangian reduction in the sense of symmetry reduction was also obtained by Bloch and Crouch [1995a,b] in a somewhat different context and the general idea is closely related to those in Montgomery [1990] and Vershik and Gershkovich [1994]. Here we develop this idea further and apply it to some known examples, such as optimal control on Lie groups and principal bundles (such as the ball and plate problem) and reorientation examples with zero angular momentum (such as the satellite with moveable masses). However, one of our main goals is to extend the method to the case of nonholonomic systems with a nontrivial momentum equation in

Cotangent bundle reduction theory is a basic and well developed subject in which one performs symplectic reduction on cotangent bundles. One starts with a (free and proper) action of a Lie group G on a configuration manifold Q, considers its natural cotangent lift to T ∗ Q and then one seeks realizations of the corresponding symplectic or Poisson reduced space. We further develop this theory by explicitly identifying the symplectic leaves of the Poisson manifold T ∗ Q/G, decomposed as a Whitney sum bundle, T ∗ (Q/G) � �g ∗ over Q/G. The splitting arises naturally from a choice of connection on the G-principal bundle Q → Q/G. The symplectic leaves are computed and a formula for the reduced symplectic form is found.

Reduction theory for mechanical systems with symmetry has its roots in the classical works in mechanics of Euler, Jacobi, Lagrange, Hamilton, Routh, Poincaré and others. The modern vision of mechanics includes, besides the traditional mechanics of particles and rigid bodies, field theories such as electromagnetism, fluid mechanics, plasma physics, solid mechanics as well as quantum mechanics, and relativistic theories, including gravity. Symmetries in these theories vary from obvious translational and rotational symmetries to less obvious particle relabeling symmetries in fluids and plasmas, to subtle symmetries underlying integrable systems. Reduction theory concerns the removal of symmetries and their associated conservation laws. Variational principles along with symplectic and Poisson geometry, provide fundamental tools for this endeavor. Reduction theory has been extremely useful in a wide variety of areas, from a deeper understanding of many physical theories, including new variational and Poisson structures, stability theory, integrable systems, as well as geometric phases.

: This paper uses geometric methods to study basic problems in locomotion. We consider in detail the case of "undulatory locomotion," which is generated by a coupling of internal shape changes to external nonholonomic constraints. Such locomotion problems can be modeled as a connection on a principal fiber bundle. The properties of connections lead to simplified results for both the dynamics and controllability of locomotion systems. We demonstrate the utility of this approach on a novel "Snakeboard" and a multi-segmented serpentine robot which is modeled after Hirose's ACM. 1 Introduction and Motivation A large body of research has developed in the area of robotic locomotion, since mobility is an important capability for autonomous systems. Most mobile robots are wheeled vehicles, since wheels provide the simplest means for mobility. The assumption that these wheels do not slip provides nonholonomic kinematic constraints on a vehicle's motion, and these kinematic nonholonomic system...

: This paper considers the problem of serpentine, or snake-like, locomotion from the perspective of geometric mechanics. A particular model, which is similar to Hirose's Active Cord Mechanism (ACM), is analyzed. Using the kinematic constraints, we develop a connection, which describes the net motion of the machine as a function of variations in the mechanism 's shape variables. We present simulation results demonstrating three types of locomotive gaits, one of which bears an obvious resemblance to the serpentine motion of a snake. We also show how these algorithms can be used to optimize certain inputs given the particular choice of physical parameters for a snake robot. 1. Introduction Most mobile robots are wheeled vehicles, since wheels provide the simplest means for robotic mobility. The assumption that these wheels do not slip provides nonholonomic kinematic constraints on a vehicle 's motion. These kinematic nonholonomic systems have been extensively studied in the literature. F...

This paper surveys selected recent progress in geometric mechanics, focussing on Lagrangian reduction and gives some new applications to nonholonomic systems, that is, mechanical systems with constraints typified by rolling without slipping. Reduction theory for mechanical systems with symmetry has its roots in the classical works in mechanics of Euler, Jacobi, Lagrange, Hamilton, Routh, Poincaré and others. The modern vision of mechanics includes, besides the traditional mechanics of particles and rigid bodies, field theories such as electromagnetism, fluid mechanics, plasma physics, solid mechanics as well as quantum mechanics, and relativistic theories, including gravity. Symmetries in mechanics ranges from obvious translational and rotational symmetries to less obvious particle relabeling symmetries in fluids and plasmas, to subtle symmetries underlying integrable systems. Reduction theory concerns the removal of symmetries and utilizing their associated conservation laws. Reduction theory has been extremely useful in a wide variety of areas, from a deeper understanding of many

Some interesting aspects of motion and control for systems such as those found in biological and robotic locomotion, attitude control of spacecraft and underwater vehicles, and steering of cars and trailers, involve geometric concepts. When an animal or a robot moves its joints in a periodic fashion, it can move forward or rotate in place. When the amplitude of the motion increases, the resulting net displacements normally increase as well. These observations lead to the general idea that when certain variables in a system move in a periodic fashion, motion of the whole object can result. This property can be used for control purposes; the position and attitude of a satellite, for example, are often controlled by periodic motions of parts of the satellite, such as spinning rotors. Geometric tools that have been useful to describe this phenomenon are \connections", mathematical objects that are extensively used in general relativity and other parts of theoretical physics. The theory of connections, which isnow part of the general subject of geometric mechanics, has also been helpful in the study of the stability or instability ofa system and in its bifurcations under parameter variations. This approach, currently in a period of rapid evolution, has been used, for example, to design stabilizing feedback control systems in the attitude dynamics of spacecraft and