Mother Nature Inspires Next Generation
War Machines
Apart from being four-legged animals, what do a cheetah and a pack mule have in common? They’ve both inspired what may be the next generation of war machines.
Picture of robotic pack mule and Cheetah Bot courtesy of DARPA.
DARPA, a military research group based in Arlington, Virginia, showed off two new robots this month, one inspired by the world’s fastest land mammal and the other based on the body plan of a familiar sturdy beast of burden.
DARPA “is attempting to understand and engineer into robots certain core capabilities that living organisms have refined over millions of years: efficient locomotion, manipulation of objects and adaptability to environments,” says Program Manager Gill Pratton the DARPA website.
DARPA’s purpose - replacing a soldier. Soldiers can be killed or wounded, a robot cannot. Soldiers get sick and tired, a robot cannot. Since many animals are stronger, faster, and more agile than humans, scientists in the field of science called Biomimetics—the science of engineering robots, materials, and systems inspired by natural design, are imagining and designing robotic animals that can be sent into places dangerous to humans.
Cheetah Bot
“Cheetahs happen to be beautiful examples of how natural engineering has created speed and agility across rough terrain,” Pratt explained. “Our Cheetah Bot borrows ideas from nature’s design to inform stride patterns, flexing and unflexing of parts like the back, placement of limbs and stability. It will have the agility to make tight turns so that it can “zigzag to chase and evade” and be able to stop on a dime. But the Cheetah's primary investigator, Marc Raibert, warns us "not to take the similarity between the Cheetah robot we built and the animal too far. We are not trying to copy the animal, just take inspiration from it.” What we gain through Cheetah and related research efforts are technological building blocks that create possibilities for a whole range of robots suited to future Department of Defense missions.”
Robotic Pack Mule
The Pack Mule possesses the even temper, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigor, strength and courage of the horse. The goal of the program is to “demonstrate that a legged robot can unburden dismounted squad members by carrying their gear, following them through rugged terrain, and interpreting verbal and visual commands.”The first of two robots “underwent its initial outdoor test earlier this year and has matured through continual testing and improvements to the point that it has started to run through the paces similar to what it could one day experience carrying gear for a squad of Marines or Soldiers,” DARPA said this week.
Similar robots are also in the testing phases. One of the most interesting, a Fly-sized Drone can be used to perform search and rescue in hazardous environments, monitor chemicals in the atmosphere, or even pollinate crops like bees. Others includeSnakebots, that go where humans cannot, 3-D Printed Spiders, Nimble Nano Hummingbirds, Robot Ants, color changing Chameleon-Like Robots, and a Gecko-Style Stickybot just to name a few.
What is the purpose of science? Perhaps the most general description is that the purpose of science is to produce useful models of reality. The exciting and upcoming field of Biomimetrics is doing just that. By learning about animals and their unique adaptations humans can make the world a better and safer place for all whether in war or at home. It makes us wonder which unique animal’s characteristic they will study, model, create, test and use next?
For more information and video clips of these robots visit.