As we move towards an era of robots, improvements in the design piece by piece takes place as the roboticists go along in their endeavors. Roboticists are using reptiles, ants and even grasshoppers as templates for the automatons, learning from the ways these non-human models have evolved in their ways of navigation, balance and stability. One reptile that has inspired the roboticists is the red-headed African Agama lizard.
Tails are incredibly stabilizing tools for all creatures and the Agama lizards use this appendage in a unique way. High speed videography has revealed that when these lizards leap onto a slippery surface they raise the tail to counteract this lack of footing. When the surface is covered with sand paper there is less stabilization needed and the tail remains in a down position during the leap. This very small but important observation was applied to a four-wheeled robotic vehicle dubbed the Tailbot. When sending off a ramp the Tailbot sank nose down but when the stabilizing tail was raised like the Agama’s tail, the Tailbot landed on its wheel in a more balanced position.
Another reptile as a model is the gecko. The robot the Stickybot was designed to walk up smooth surfaces after the microscopic hair found on the feet of geckos. The adhesive power of the hair is so effective that a gecko can dangle from the ceiling by one toe!
On a side note the researchers are now keen to use gecko hairs to make the world’s first dry adhesive.