M. Sfakiotakis and D.P. Tsakiris
Biomechanical modelling, undulatory locomotion, robotics, biology, Anguilla anguilla eel
This paper presents SIMUUN, a block-based simulation environment, which has been developed on top of Matlab/SimulinkTM, 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 to 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.
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