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Adaptive control of a looper-like robot based on the CPG-actor-critic method

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Abstract

Adaptability to the environment is crucial for mobile robots, because the circumstances, including the body of the robot, may change. A robot with a large number of degrees of freedom possesses the potential to adapt to such circumstances, but it is difficult to design a good controller for such a robot. We previously proposed a reinforcement learning (RL) method called the CPG actor-critic method, and applied it to the automatic acquisition of vermicular locomotion of a looper-like robot through computer simulations. In this study, we developed a looper-like robot and applied our RL method to the control of this robot. Experimental results demonstrate fast acquisition of a vermicular forward motion, supporting the real applicability of our method.

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Correspondence to Yutaka Nakamura.

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Makino, K., Nakamura, Y., Shibata, T. et al. Adaptive control of a looper-like robot based on the CPG-actor-critic method. Artif Life Robotics 12, 129–132 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-007-0453-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-007-0453-9

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