Quadrupedal locomotion based in a purely reflex controller

Quadruped locomotion in irregular and unknown terrains is still a problem to solve. The concept of reflexes is used in this work to contribute for the continuous search of answers about this theme. Biological researches show that spinal reflexes are crucial for a successful locomotion in the most varied terrains, so robotics investigation in this area could be a great advance in the robot´s locomotion. In this work, we present a sensory driven reflex controller, capable of generating locomotion in a quadruped compliant robot. This controller is totally dependent on sensory information, so the robot´s movements are the result of the robot interactions with the environment. Results show that the proposed controller is capable of generating movements in a flat terrain and is resilient to unexpected perturbations such as a small ramp.