Scientists lead by Auke Ijspeert from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) created an robot salamander based on the movement of real salamanders.
The robot is named Pleurobot after researched salamander species Pleurodeles waltl. The Pleurobot can walk, crawl and even swim under water like the real salamander would. The movement of real salamanders was analysed with x-ray videos of the moving animals. With the help of modern technologies like cineradiograhy, 3D printing and cheap and fast processing power the scientists created the complex robot with 27 motors and 11 spine segments.
“Animal locomotion is an inherently complex process,” says Kostas Karakasilliotis who designed the first versions of the Pleurobot. “Modern tools like cineradiography, 3D printing, and fast computing help us draw closer and closer to understanding and replicating it.”
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