Applying principles from the locomotion of small animals to the design and operation of bio-inspired robots
Collaboration between biologists and engineers has resulted in a new generation of bio-inspired robots. Drawing inspiration from the locomotion of small animals, these robots are faster, more versatile, more robust and easier to control than their predecessors.
The design process begins with identifying exemplars from nature that excel at a particular task, such as running rapidly over rough terrain or climbing vertical surfaces. The next step is to hypothesize design principles that underlie the animals’ success. These design principles represent an abstraction of the complex structures and behaviors observed in animal models.
The design principles guide the development of small robots, which take advantage of recent developments in rapid prototyping technology to create tuned multi-material structures with embedded sensors and actuators that exhibit the desired characteristics and behavior. Testing and evaluating the robots reveals where the design principles should be refined or augmented. The resulting insights are valuable to both roboticists and biologists to deepen their understanding about what is important, and why.
The bio-inspired design process will be illustrated with several running and climbing robots that have grown out of collaborations between researchers in robotics and integrative biology.
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Dr. Mark R. Cutkosky is the Fletcher Jones II Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical at Stanford University and a co-director of the Center for Design Research. He formerly was a lecturer and research assistant at the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute and a design engineer at ALCOA. His research interests include robotic manipulation and tactile sensing, and the design and fabrication of biologically inspired systems. He has graduated over 40 Ph.D. students and published extensively in these areas.
Cutkosky is a former Fulbright Chair, Anderson Faculty Scholar and NSF Presidential Young Investigator.
He is a member of ASME and Sigma Xi and IEEE fellow.
Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory at Stanford University website