Monica Daley

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  Life in rough terrain: Integration of mechanics and sensorimotor control for agile and robustly stable bipedal locomotion.
  Monica Daley

  Animals must precisely control limb-substrate interactions to move effectively over varied and uncertain terrain while avoiding injury. One key source of uncertainty for animals is sensorimotor delay, which limits feedback response times. My research team study perturbed and transient locomotor dynamics to understand how animals effectively integrate mechanics and sensorimotor control to overcome these challenges. We often study ground birds, because they are diverse bipeds that span >1000-fold range in body mass, yet retain consistent morphology. I will discuss some similarities and differences between human and avian bipeds, which highlight different solutions to the problem of sensorimotor delay. Recently, we have begun studying bird perching balance, to understand how balance sense is integrated with proprioception and intrinsic leg mechanics. Bird-inspired control strategies may prove useful for developing agile autonomous robots.