IEEE Spectrum
Issue April 2009
Pages 26 onwards
Until now many robots have been created which can move efficiently on or in many different surfaces: water, climbing, roads, etc. But none is able to move efficiently on all, nor any one is able to move on sand.
Even our vehicles are not able to move well on surfaces which haven't been paved, imagine automated robots.
In 2001 some robots were sent for the rescue work at World Trade Centre, and in no time they were not able to continue due to the tough surface conditions. In 2006 some robots were sent to a rescue mission in a collapsed mine... they made it 700 meters until they were totally stucked in mud. Thus it is required to get robots to move efficiently on various different tough surface conditions.
The team of researchers authoring this article made a robot SandBot which is 6 legged with some sort of flippers that turn to give the forward movement. They are testing movement on sand. But sand does not yet have a good mechanical model. Thus they have been studying the movement of beings such as lizards, crabs and snakes to imitate their skills.
Issue April 2009
Pages 26 onwards
Until now many robots have been created which can move efficiently on or in many different surfaces: water, climbing, roads, etc. But none is able to move efficiently on all, nor any one is able to move on sand.
Even our vehicles are not able to move well on surfaces which haven't been paved, imagine automated robots.
In 2001 some robots were sent for the rescue work at World Trade Centre, and in no time they were not able to continue due to the tough surface conditions. In 2006 some robots were sent to a rescue mission in a collapsed mine... they made it 700 meters until they were totally stucked in mud. Thus it is required to get robots to move efficiently on various different tough surface conditions.
The team of researchers authoring this article made a robot SandBot which is 6 legged with some sort of flippers that turn to give the forward movement. They are testing movement on sand. But sand does not yet have a good mechanical model. Thus they have been studying the movement of beings such as lizards, crabs and snakes to imitate their skills.
We are also looking below ground inspiration. Using high speed X-rays, we are now studyng lizards called sandfish that can burrow into sand in the blink of an eye and then "swim" through the material underground... With nature as our guiid, we expect that robots will soon master some incredible new abilities.
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