Bio-inspired design and movement generation of dung beetle-like legs

Ignasov, Jevgeni; Kapilavai, Aditya; Filonenko, Konstantin; Larsen, Jørgen Christian; Baird, Emily; Hallam, John; Büsse, Sebastian; Kovalev, Alexander; Gorb, Stanislav N.; Duggen, Lars; Manoonpong, Poramate

doi:10.1007/s10015-018-0475-5

Cited by 8 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Typically, dung beetles walk with a tripod gait but at least one species occasionally gallops 19 . To form a ball from a large dung pile, they mainly use their front legs and head while their middle and hind legs are used for stability on the dung 20 . Their unique and complex ball rolling behaviour requires simultaneous leg coordination to perform multiple actions such as walking, pushing the ball, and retaining balance.…”

Section: Dung Beetles Can Perform a Number Of Versatile Behaviours Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Rules for the Leg Coordination of Dung Beetle Ball Rolling Behaviour

Leung

Bijma

Baird

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Dung beetles can perform a number of versatile behaviours, including walking and dung ball rolling. While different walking and running gaits of dung beetles have been described in previous literature, little is known about their ball rolling gaits. From behavioural experiments and video recordings of the beetle Scarabaeus (Kheper) lamarcki, we analysed and identified four underlying rules for leg coordination during ball rolling. The rules describe the alternation of the front legs and protraction waves of the middle and hind legs. We found that while rolling a ball backwards, the front legs are decoupled or loosely coupled from the other legs, resulting in a non-standard gait, in contrast to previously described tripod and gallop walking gaits in dung beetles. This provides insight into the principles of leg coordination in dung beetle ball rolling behaviour and its underlying rules. The proposed rules can be used as a basis for further investigation into ball rolling behaviours on more complex terrain (e.g., uneven terrain and slopes). Additionally, the rules can also be used to guide the development of control mechanisms for bio-inspired ball rolling robots.

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Section: Dung Beetles Can Perform a Number Of Versatile Behaviours Imentioning

confidence: 99%

Rules for the Leg Coordination of Dung Beetle Ball Rolling Behaviour

Leung

Bijma

Baird

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…In return, robotic systems can provide insights into the regulation and temporal resolution of attachments, which can strengthen experimental results. Furthermore, the characterization of attachment solutions in nature can support the development of bioinspired gripping devices [289][290][291][292][293]. The transfer to technical applications in this context would benefit from the isolation of the collective features of different systems, rather than from emulating a single feature in detail.…”

Section: Significance For Biomimetic Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

Büscher¹,

Gorb²

2021

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol.

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Adhesive pads are functional systems with specific micro- and nanostructures which evolved as a response to specific environmental conditions and therefore exhibit convergent traits. The functional constraints that shape systems for the attachment to a surface are general requirements. Different strategies to solve similar problems often follow similar physical principles, hence, the morphology of attachment devices is affected by physical constraints. This resulted in two main types of attachment devices in animals: hairy and smooth. They differ in morphology and ultrastructure but achieve mechanical adaptation to substrates with different roughness and maximise the actual contact area with them. Species-specific environmental surface conditions resulted in different solutions for the specific ecological surroundings of different animals. As the conditions are similar in discrete environments unrelated to the group of animals, the micro- and nanostructural adaptations of the attachment systems of different animal groups reveal similar mechanisms. Consequently, similar attachment organs evolved in a convergent manner and different attachment solutions can occur within closely related lineages. In this review, we present a summary of the literature on structural and functional principles of attachment pads with a special focus on insects, describe micro- and nanostructures, surface patterns, origin of different pads and their evolution, discuss the material properties (elasticity, viscoelasticity, adhesion, friction) and basic physical forces contributing to adhesion, show the influence of different factors, such as substrate roughness and pad stiffness, on contact forces, and review the chemical composition of pad fluids, which is an important component of an adhesive function. Attachment systems are omnipresent in animals. We show parallel evolution of attachment structures on micro- and nanoscales at different phylogenetic levels, focus on insects as the largest animal group on earth, and subsequently zoom into the attachment pads of the stick and leaf insects (Phasmatodea) to explore convergent evolution of attachment pads at even smaller scales. Since convergent events might be potentially interesting for engineers as a kind of optimal solution by nature, the biomimetic implications of the discussed results are briefly presented.

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“…Following this idea, bio-inspired designs or the idea of developing systems based on the mother nature living beings is something researchers have tried to achieve in very different fields over the years. Some authors [9,11] inspired their design in insects. Nevertheless, they still use classic servo-actuators, and only the mechanical design is bio-inspired.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

TCP Muscle Tensors: Theoretical Analysis and Potential Applications in Aerial Robotic Systems

Gomez-Tamm

Soria

Arrue

et al. 2019

Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing

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The use of aerial systems in a variety of real applications is increasing nowadays. These offer solutions to existing problems in ways that have never seen before thanks to their capability to perform perching, grasping or manipulating in inaccessible or dangerous places. Many of these applications require small-sized robots that can maneuver in narrow environments. However, these are required to have also strength enough to perform the desired tasks. This balance is sometimes unreachable due to the fact that traditional servomotors are too heavyweight for being carried by such small unmanned aerial systems (UAS). This paper, offers a innovative solution based on twisted and coiled polymers (TCP) muscles. These tensors have a high weight/strength ratio (up to 200 times) compared with traditional servos. In this work, the practical and modeling work done by the authors is presented. Then, a preliminary design of a bio-inspired claw for an unmanned aerial system (UAS) is shown. This claw has been developed using additive manufacturing techniques with different materials. Actuated with TCP, it is intrinsically compliant and offers a great force/weight ratio.

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Bio-inspired design and movement generation of dung beetle-like legs

Cited by 8 publications

References 10 publications

Rules for the Leg Coordination of Dung Beetle Ball Rolling Behaviour

Rules for the Leg Coordination of Dung Beetle Ball Rolling Behaviour

Physical constraints lead to parallel evolution of micro- and nanostructures of animal adhesive pads: a review

TCP Muscle Tensors: Theoretical Analysis and Potential Applications in Aerial Robotic Systems

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