[WATCH
VIDEO: From Running Roaches To Robots]
April Flowers for
redOrbit – Your Universe Online
Researchers
from the University of
Michigan have found that running cockroaches begin to recover from
being pushed sideways even before their nervous systems kick in to tell their
legs what to do. The research team hopes that these new insights on the
stabilization of biological systems could one day help engineers design
steadier robots. The findings, published online in Biological
Cybernetics, might also improve doctors’ understanding of human gait
abnormalities.
The roaches
being tested were able to maintain their footing mechanically by using their
momentum and the spring-like architecture of their legs, rather than
neurologically by relying on impulses sent from their central nervous system to
their muscles.
“The response
time we observed is more than three times longer than you’d expect,” said Shai
Revzen, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science,
as well as ecology and evolutionary biology, at the University of Michigan
“What we see
is that the animals’ nervous system is working at a substantial delay,” he said
in a statement. “It could potentially act a lot sooner, within
about a thirtieth of a second, but instead, it kicks in after about a step and
a half or two steps—about a tenth of a second. For some reason, the nervous
system is waiting and seeing how it shapes out.”
The research
team sent 15 cockroaches running across a small bridge onto a
placemat-sized cart on wheels. The roaches were sent one at a time, for a total
of 41 trials. The cart was attached to an elastic cord, pulled tight like a
loaded slingshot. This was held in place by a strong magnet on the other side. The
researchers released the magnet once the roach was approximately one body
length onto the cart. The force of the cart’s movement is equivalent to a sumo
wrestler hitting a jogger in a flying tackle. Revzen said that cockroaches are
much more stable than humans.
Read on: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112789974/robotics-ideas-from-running-cockroaches-022313/
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