Implementation of Central Pattern Generator in an FPGA-based Embedded System

Abstract : This paper proposes an embedded system on a chip to generate locomotion patterns of periodic rhythmic movements inspired by biological neural networks called Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) found in animal nervous system. The proposed system contains a custom digital module, attached to an embedded processor, that mimics the functionality and organization of the fundamental Amari-Hopfield CPG. In order to reduce the CPG hardware integration complexity as well as to provide flexibility, an embedded linux operating system running on a processor is used to deal with the CPG interfacing in a high level transparent way for application development. The system is implemented on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device providing a compact, flexible and expandable solution for generating periodic rhythmic patterns in robot control applications. Results show that the obtained waveforms from the FPGA implementation agree with software simulations and preserve the easiness of CPG parameter setting for adaptive behavior.