Spider webs inspiring soft robotics

Abstract

In soft robotics, bio-inspiration ranges from hard- to software. Orb web spiders provide excellent examples for both. Adapted sensors on their legs may use morphological computing to fine-tune feedback loops that supervise the handling and accurate placement of silk threads. The spider's webs embody the decision rules of a complex behaviour that relies on navigation and piloting laid down in silk by behaviour charting inherited rules. Analytical studies of real spiders allow the modelling of path-finding construction rules optimized in evolutionary algorithms. We propose that deconstructing spiders and unravelling webs may lead to adaptable robots able to invent and construct complex novel structures using relatively simple rules of thumb.

Optimized structures for vibration attenuation and sound control in nature: A review

“…5 The richness of these features, which is still the subject of many studies, has already inspired technologies with different goals in various scientific fields. [102][103][104] Spider orb webs are able to stop prey while minimizing damage after impacts, thus maintaining their functionality, 5 partially exploiting the coupling with aerodynamic damping that follows prey impacts. 96 This makes orb webs efficient structures for capturing fast-moving prey, 107 whose location can then be detected because of the vibrational properties of the orb web.…”

Distinct movement patterns generate stages of spider web building

“…The web itself constitutes a physical memory of the behavioral state of the spider that, together with purely reflexive sensorimotor rules, could perhaps give rise to the observed phases of construction. 30 Alternatively, some or all of this memory could be stored as internal states in the brain. Prior work on black widow and funnel-web spiders has demonstrated the existence of path integration memory.…”

Distinct movement patterns generate stages of spider web-building

“…Where this memory is stored, however, remains to be addressed. The web itself constitutes a physical memory of the behavioral state of the spider that together with purely reflexive sensorimotor rules could perhaps give rise to the observed phases of construction 30 . Alternatively, some or all of this memory could be stored as internal states in the brain.…”