A new robot, inspired by birds, seals, and other animals, could change the way we explore other planets.
Some animals have adapted the use of their limbs to allow them to tackle different terrains, such as sea lions walking on land using their flippers, meerkats standing on their hind legs to scout their surroundings and chukar birds using their wings to walk on all fours up steep inclines -- all examples engineers utilized on their newest creation.
By mimicking animals' limb repurposing abilities, the mobile robots can be designed with multi-functional limbs to navigate complex terrains by adapting their movement strategies, the researchers said.The Morphobot was designed to travel over various terrains on land and in the air by transforming its appendages between wheels, propellors, legs and hands. The M4 robot weighs around 13 pounds, is about 27.5 inches wide and 13.8 inches tall.
The robot is able to adapt its movements to walk on rough terrain, trek up steep slopes, tumble over large obstacles, fly to higher levels and crawl under low-ceiling pathways, Alireza Ramezani, an assistant professor of electrical computer engineering at Northeastern University and author of the study, told ABC News.
The transformability will be especially important for situations when robots have to operate in compromised infrastructure, such as collapsed buildings, Ramezani said. While aerial mobility is overall faster than ground mobility, it would not be possible inside a crumbling edifice. "The whole idea is to change the way that future space explorations look and how to get to these inaccessible environments," Ramezani said.
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