Literature

List of relevant literature in the field.

Introduction

The following lists are brief guides to big names in the fields of bio-inspired robotics, neuromechanical modeling, and experimental neuroscience. These lists are only meant to get you started. There are many more researchers in the field who do relevant work. I highly recommend you look up their lab website or Google Scholar page, download a handful of papers that are highly cited or relevant to your work, read them carefully, and take notes on what you read and how they relate to one another. This will give you a basic understanding of what the state of the art is, what questions are outstanding, and how your research can contribute.

The following also includes a list of review papers that may help introduce you to these fields. Review papers primarily synthesize ideas from the literature without performing original research. They can be very helpful for getting started in a particular area of research. All these manuscripts that are relevant to our research, but those that are highly relevant are labeled *, and those that are exceptionally relevant are labeled **.

Biologically inspired/legged robots

Joe Ayers, Northeastern University

Lobster-like robots, computational neuroscience, underwater locomotion [1]

Howie Choset, Carnegie Mellon University

Snake robots, compliant actuators, modular actuators

Mitra Hartmann, Northwestern University

Computational neuroscience, sensory systems, biomechanics, whiskers [2]

Auke Ijspeert, EPFL

Salamander robots, CPG-driven robots, walking robots, swimming robots *[3]

Dan Koditschek, University of Pennsylvania

RHex robots, dynamic stability [4]

Poramate Manoonpong, University of Southern Denmark

Echo state networks/liquid state machines, radial basis networks, AMOS

Frank Pasemann, University of Osnabrück

Neuromorphic control, insect-like robots, Octavio, Scorpion

Roger Quinn, CWRU

Insect-like robots, wheel-leg (Whegs) robots, worm-like robots, Robot I, Robot II, Robot III **[5]

Axel Schneider, University of Bielefeld

Stick insect robots, Hector

Barry Trimmer, Tufts University

Worm robots [6]

Barbara Webb, University of Edinburgh

Computational neuroscience, navigation, ant-like robots, central complex, mushroom bodies *[7–9]

Computational neuroscience/biomechanical modeling

R. McNeill Alexander, University of Leeds

Biomechanics of scale [10,11]

Andrew Biewener, University of Chicago

Biomechanics of scale [12]

Hillel Chiel, CWRU

Biomechanical modeling and control of soft structures (sea slugs), stable heteroclinic channels (SHC) [13–15]

Holk Cruse, University of Bielefeld

Walknet, distributed control systems, Tarry *[16,17]

Silvia Daun (Daun-Gruhn), University of Cologne

Computational modeling of CPG networks in stick insect locomotion *[18,19]

Robert (Bob) Full, University of California Berkeley

Cockroach mechanics, mechanics of running, templates and anchors [20]

Philip Holmes, Princeton

Biomechanical modeling of animal stability *[21]

Scott Hooper, Ohio University

Biomechanics of scale, muscle dynamics **[22–24]

Eve Marder, Brandeis University

Computational modeling of CPG networks in the stomatogastric network of crustaceans, neuromodulation [25]

Gregory Sutton, Lincoln University

Biomechanical modeling of muscles, insect jumping

Experimental neuroscience and biomechanics

Jan Ache, University of Würzburg

Insect brain, sensory perception, descending commands **[47]

Ansgar Büschges, University of Cologne

Stick insect locomotion, nonspiking interneurons, CPG networks, reflex networks **[23,26–29]

Malcolm Burrows, Cambridge University

Locust jumping, biomechanics *[30]

Fred Delcomyn, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (retired)

Insect gait, sensory feedback **[45]

Michael Dickinson, California Institute of Technology

Fruit fly flight, neuromechanics of goal-directed flight

Volker Dürr, University of Bielefeld

Stick insect locomotion, proprioception, mechanoreception *[31]

Jessica Fox, CWRU

Flies, sensory encoding, multi-modal sensory integration

D. Graham, University of Kaiserlautern

Insect walking **[46]

Uwe Homberg, University of Marburg

Insect brain, sensory perception, central complex, navigation, intracellular recording [32,33]

Kei Ito

Fruit flies, neuroanatomy, ascending and descending pathways [34]

Basil El Jundi, University of Würzburg

Dung beetle brain, central complex, navigation [35]

Vivek Jayaraman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Fruit fly brain, central complex, navigation [36]

Gilles Laurent, California Institute of Technology

Locust locomotion, nonspiking interneurons, CPG networks

Thomas Matheson, University of Leicester

Locust locomotion, proprioception, biomechanics [37]

Katherine Nagel, NYU

Fruit fly, sensorimotor transformation, goal-directed behavior

Keram Pfeiffer, University of Würzburg

Insect brain, sensory perception, central complex, navigation

Roy Ritzmann, CWRU

Cockroach brain, praying mantis brain, locomotion, central complex, descending commands, escape behavior, multi-probe array for extracellular recording [38–40]

Josef Schmitz, University of Bielefeld

Stick insect locomotion, reflex pathways, campaniform sensilla

John Tuthill, University of Washington

Fruit fly locomotion, proprioception **[41,42]

Sasha Zill, Marshall University

Campaniform sensilla, cockroach and stick insect locomotion **[43,44]

Review papers

1. Ayers, J. L. Underwater vehicles based on biological intelligence. Mechanical Engineering 138, 6–10 (2016).

2. Chiel, H. J., Ting, L. H., Ekeberg, O. & Hartmann, M. J. Z. The Brain in Its Body: Motor Control and Sensing in a Biomechanical Context. J. Neurosci. 29, 12807–12814 (2009).

3. Ijspeert, A. J. Biorobotics: using robots to emulate and investigate agile locomotion. Science 346, 196–203 (2014).

4. Holmes, P., Full, R. J., Koditschek, D. E. & Guckenheimer, J. The Dynamics of Legged Locomotion: Models , Analyses , and Challenges. Challenges 48, 207–304 (2006).

5. Ritzmann, R. E., Quinn, R. D. & Fischer, M. S. Convergent evolution and locomotion through complex terrain by insects, vertebrates and robots. Arthropod Struct. Dev. 33, 361–379 (2004).

6. van Griethuijsen, L. I. & Trimmer, B. A. Locomotion in caterpillars. Biol. Rev. 89, 656–670 (2014).

7. Wessnitzer, J. & Webb, B. H. Multimodal sensory integration in insects — towards insect brain control architectures. Bioinspir. Biomim. 1, 63–75 (2006).

8. Webb, B. & Wystrach, A. Neural mechanisms of insect navigation. Curr. Opin. Insect Sci. 15, 27–39 (2016).

9. Webb, B. Robots with insect brains. Science (80-. ). 368, 244–245 (2020).

10. Alexander, R. M. The Gaits of Bipedal and Quadrupedal Animals. Int. J. Rob. Res. 3, 49–59 (1984).

11. Alexander, R. M. Optimization and gaits in the locomotion of vertebrates. Physiol. Rev. 69, 1199–1227 (1989).

12. Biewener, A. A. Animals as ‘Mature Technology’. Science (80-. ). 333, 938–938 (2011).

13. Chiel, H. J. & Beer, R. D. The brain has a body: adaptive behavior emerges from interactions of nervous system, body and environment. Trends Neurosci. 20, 553–7 (1997).

14. Beer, R. D., Quinn, R. D., Chiel, H. J. & Ritzmann, R. E. Biologically Inspired Approaches to Robotics. Commun. ACM 40, (1997).

15. Ting, L. H. et al. Neuromechanical Principles Underlying Movement Modularity and Their Implications for Rehabilitation. Neuron 86, 38–54 (2015).

16. Cruse, H. What mechanisms coordinate leg movement in walking arthropods? Trends Neurosci. 13, 15–21 (1990).

17. Schilling, M., Hoinville, T., Schmitz, J. & Cruse, H. Walknet, a bio-inspired controller for hexapod walking. Biol. Cybern. 107, 397–419 (2013).

18. Daun-Gruhn, S. & Büschges, A. From neuron to behavior: dynamic equation-based prediction of biological processes in motor control. Biol. Cybern. 71–88 (2011). doi:10.1007/s00422-011-0446-6

19. Ayali, A. et al. The comparative investigation of the stick insect and cockroach models in the study of insect locomotion. Curr. Opin. Insect Sci. 12, 1–10 (2015).

20. Full, R. J. & Tu, M. S. Mechanics of six-legged runners. J. Exp. Biol. 148, 129–46 (1990).

21. Ayali, A. et al. Sensory feedback in cockroach locomotion: current knowledge and open questions. J. Comp. Physiol. A Neuroethol. Sensory, Neural, Behav. Physiol. 201, 841–850 (2015).

22. Hooper, S. L. Body size and the neural control of movement. Curr. Biol. 22, R318–R322 (2012).

23. Hooper, S. L. & Büschges, A. Neurobiology of motor control: Fundamental concepts and new directions. Archivos de Neurociencias 24, (2017).

24. Hooper, S. L. & DiCaprio, R. A. Crustacean Motor Pattern Generator Networks. NeuroSignals 13, 50–69 (2004).

25. Marder, E. Neuromodulation of Neuronal Circuits: Back to the Future. Neuron 76, 1–11 (2012).

26. Büschges, A. & Borgmann, A. Network modularity: Back to the future in motor control. Curr. Biol. 23, 936–938 (2013).

27. Büschges, A. & Gruhn, M. Mechanosensory Feedback in Walking: From Joint Control to Locomotor Patterns. Advances in Insect Physiology 34, (2007).

28. Büschges, A., Scholz, H. & El Manira, A. New moves in motor control. Curr. Biol. 21, R513-24 (2011).

29. Mantziaris, C. et al. Intra- and intersegmental influences among central pattern generating networks in the walking system of the stick insect. J. Neurophysiol. 49, jn.00321.2017 (2017).

30. Burrows, M. Local circuits for the control of leg movements in an insect. Trends Neurosci. 15, 226–232 (1992).

31. Dürr, V. et al. Integrative Biomimetics of Autonomous Hexapedal Locomotion. Front. Neurorobot. 13, 1–32 (2019).

32. Homberg, U. In search of the sky compass in the insect brain. Naturwissenschaften 91, 199–208 (2004).

33. Pfeiffer, K. & Homberg, U. Organization and functional roles of the central complex in the insect brain. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 59, 165–84 (2014).

34. Ito, K. et al. A systematic nomenclature for the insect brain. Neuron 81, 755–765 (2014).

35. Homberg, U., Heinze, S., Pfeiffer, K., Kinoshita, M. & el Jundi, B. Central neural coding of sky polarization in insects. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. Biol. Sci. 366, 680–687 (2011).

36. Turner-Evans, D. B. & Jayaraman, V. The insect central complex. Curr. Biol. 26, R453–R457 (2016).

37. Field, L. H. & Matheson, T. Chordotonal Organs of Insects. Adv. In Insect Phys. 27, (1998).

38. Ritzmann, R. E. & Zill, S. N. Control of Locomotion in Hexapods. 1, 1–26 (2017).

39. Ritzmann, R. E. et al. Deciding which way to go: How do insects alter movements to negotiate barriers? Front. Neurosci. 6, 1–10 (2012).

40. Varga, A. G., Kathman, N. D., Martin, J. P., Guo, P. & Ritzmann, R. E. Spatial Navigation and the Central Complex: Sensory Acquisition, Orientation, and Motor Control. Front. Behav. Neurosci. 11, (2017).

41. Tuthill, J. C. & Azim, E. Proprioception. Curr. Biol. 28, R193–R194 (2018).

42. Tuthill, J. C. & Wilson, R. I. Mechanosensation and Adaptive Motor Control in Insects. Curr. Biol. 26, R1022–R1038 (2016).

43. Zill, S. N., Schmitz, J. & Büschges, A. Load sensing and control of posture and locomotion. Arthropod Struct. Dev. 33, 273–86 (2004).

44. Zill, S. N. & Seyfarth, E.-A. Exoskeletal Sensors for Walking. Sci. Am. 275, 86–90 (1996).

45. Delcomyn F, Nelson ME, Cocatre-Zilgien JH (1996) Sense organs of insect legs and the selection of sensors for agile walking robots. International Journal of Robotics Research, 15(2):113–127. https://doi.org/10.1177/027836499601500201

46. Graham D (1985) Pattern and Control of Walking in Insects. Advances in Insect Physiology, 18(C), 31–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2806(08)60039-9

1. Ache J and Bueschges A (2025) Motor control on the move: from insights in insects to general mechanisms. Physiological Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00009.2024