A wave-based CNN generator for the control and actuation of a Lamprey-like robot

In this work a project which aims at the construction of LampBot II, an autonomous biologically-inspired swimming robot, is presented. LampBot II is capable of mimicking the undulatory swimming of a sea lamprey. The system used to generate locomotion is based on the paradigm of the Central Pattern Generator (CPG) and is implamented on a chip based on a Cellular Nonlinear Network (CNN). Two prototype structures have been developed in order to evaluate the feasibility of the actuation by means of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires or servo motors.