Programmable Bionic Control Circuit Based on Central Pattern Generator

• Published in: IEEE transactions on cognitive and developmental systems Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 233 - 246
• Main Authors: Hong, Qinghui, Li, Qing, Li, Jia, Sun, Jingru, Du, Sichun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Piscataway IEEE 01.04.2025; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Bionic circuit; Bionics; central pattern generator (CPG); Fish; Integrated circuit modeling; Mathematical models; memristor; Memristors; Oscillators; programmable circuit; robot fish; Robot kinematics; Robot sensing systems; Robots; Simulation; Swimming; Topology
• ISSN: 2379-8920; 2379-8939
• DOI: 10.1109/TCDS.2024.3388152

The central pattern generator (CPG) involves a group of neurons that produce rhythmic signals in a coordinated manner. Currently, CPG circuits capable of efficient online programming are rarely found in the literature. To address this issue, this article proposes a memristive control circuit based on CPG. First, an online amplification module is designed to adjust the positive and negative amplification coefficients. On the basis of this structure, a CPG unit circuit controlling a joint is proposed. According to the topology of CPG network model, a CPG network circuit composed of multiple units is devised. This network can coordinate multiple joints to produce a gait. In this article, the circuit is applied to generate the activity pattern of fish swimming. PSPICE simulation results demonstrate that four units can realize the basic swimming patterns of a robot fish. Through memristor programming, the circuit can achieve smooth online switching of robot fish swimming patterns. Moreover, hardware implementation proves the practicality of the circuit.