Multi-legged animals such as centipedes exhibit remarkable agility across complex terrains, yet their locomotion strategies differ dramatically depending on their developmental mode. In this talk, I will present a comparative framework combining numerical modeling, organismal experiments, and robophysical modeling to explore how locomotor control and body kinematics co-evolve with developmental processes. In doing so, we establish first-principle hypotheses on how locomotion shapes development and, conversely, reveal a new paradigm for co-designing control and morphology in future agile, modular, multi-legged robots.
Baxi Chong | Mechanical Engineering