Like A Cat, New Robot Lands On Its Feet

eckenheimer writes "Students at the Physics Department at Drury University have developed a robot that uses motions and contortions of its body to orient itself in zero gravity. According to the project site, 'If you've ever seen a cat land on its feet after falling while upside down then you've seen the idea behind our project.' The effort is a proposal for the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program."

Like a...?

[SIGALRM]

If you've ever seen a cat land on its feet after falling while upside down

I'm looking forward to their "like-a-dog" model: word on the street is, licks its own ass.

Now that's using "motions and contortions".

Now all we need is buttered bread

[Anonymous Coward]

...to stick on its back and we'll have an antigravity engine.

Butter side up?

[decipher_saint]

Can we apply some kind of techno-butter to one side to see if the robot can stay in a constant state of airborne suspension?

Forget that...When do they open "Battle School"

[haplo21112]

Thats where I want to send my kid for some zero grav training...then they can save the word for us....

Re:Like a...?

[grunt107]

I would merge the cat/dog projects.

All the loyalty of a cat with the cleanliness of a dog

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Bah! I can do that too..

[myrdred]

Just make the feet of the robot really, really heavy. Heavier than the rest of its body, then it will always land on its feet!

Have to wonder how they did their research...

[foidulus]

I can just imagine the papers you would have to fill out
Experiment: "Drop cats repeatedly, observe results for use in robotics..."
See how well PETA would love that one!

Anyone could do this...

[SlapAyoda]

Just attach a printed list of all the Internet Explorer security holes in the past few months to any existing robot's feet, and the resulting weight should be enough to reproduce this cat-like ability.

is it a better mousetrap too?

[peter303]

As Ralph Waldo Emerson said "if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door".

Cats don't always land on their feet

[Anonymous Coward]

If my cat gets dopped up on nip, he'll roll of the table and land on his back. And I'm talkin 2.5-3 foot fall.

Re:is it a better mousetrap too?

[mopslik]

Or in /.'s case:

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will not just beat a path to your door but will overwhelm your server."

Not sure who said that one.

Another new breakthrough

[mseeger]

DPA: As professor Fallsonhisface of the chair for human mechanics anounced today, he delivered another breakthrough in robotics. By using a new technology dubbed "artifical clumsiness" he created a robot that appears more humanlike than every other machine today. He stated that "... Most people are scared to death by machines acting perfectly. They will only accept a robot in their daily life if those manage to make mistakes. People want to feel supperior."

He was confident that the first prototype would convince the public once it has been reassembled again.

Regards, Martin

Re:is it a better mousetrap too?

[Neil Blender]

Or in /.'s case:

"Build a better mousetrap and the world will not just beat a path to your door but will overwhelm your server."

Don' forget "and bitch about the patent."

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[captnjameskirk]

the acceleration due to gravity might result in an unpleasant aftermath

Actually, it's the deceleration when meeting the ground that is usually the culprit.

Re:Butter side up? Rest of Joke

[Dareth]

Because cats always land on their feet and toast always lands buttered side down, you can construct a perpetual motion machine by simply strapping a slice of buttered toast to a cat's back. When the cat is dropped it will remain suspended and revolve indefinitely due to the opposing forces.

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[no longer myself]

I'm just having this morbidly funny image of people throwing cats out windows as part of a government study to test that "statistic":

"Damn, Bob... Did you see that? He might have made it if that cab driver hadn't run over him."

"Yeah, Pete. Let's take this tabby up to the 23rd floor. Oh, by the way, did you hear they're working on a robot that mimics this sort of behavior."

"I think I did read something about that, Bob, but tossing an expensive piece of hardware out the window just isn't as satisfying."

"You've never owned a Mac, have you, Pete?"

Re:Like a...?

[drtomaso]

Some other "cat-like" behavior they forgot to mention:

• Robot sleeps 16 hours a day
• Robot begs for food when scientists are seated around the dinner table
• Ate robo-bird

Zero G?

[Shabbs]

Just curious... how does something "fall" in zero g? Doesn't falling imply gravity?

What would a cat do in Zero G? Would it continously try to adjust itself.

Now THAT would be funny to see.

Cats in spce... the next fontier.

Finally perpetual motion!

[Prince Vegeta SSJ4]

Like A Cat, New Robot Lands On Its Feet

Now they will finally be ble to create a perpetual motion machine, which not only works, but is environmentally and feline friendly as well.

PETA had this to say:

• the desperately needed, perpetual motion machine can now be achieved, that does not conflict with our interests, The long controversial Buttered Cat array [flippyscatpage.com] is now available without the cats, it is indeed a great day for humanity

Re:Like a...?

[pete-classic]

I would guess that their next robot will be based on buttered toast, and have the opposite capablities.

-Peter

What's A Robot?

[blinder]

[voice mode="homestarrunner_1936"]what's a robit?[/voice]

The real question is.....

[cardshark2001]

Have you ever seen a cat not land on its feet?

I've seen it. I might have had a little something to do with it. They sure are twisty little b@574d5, I'll tell you that.

Re:Where's the beef?

[MooseByte]

Couldn't they just build a robotic sphere covered with dozens of feet?

Young engineers these days... always making everything so dang hard.

Please name the robot Coriolis

[jazzbotley]

Not so much a formal study but a fun paper to read: On the Directional Correlation of Axial Rotation in Inverted Felines and Planetary Spin: Coriolis Revisited [psu.edu]

The author [baylor.edu] also happens to be a Computer Science professor in data networks. Quite a dry sense of humor -- his classes are a lot of fun!

Mandatory Disclaimer : yes, I'm a starving grad student of his, and yes, I'm pulling for a graduation date this decade!

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok, so lets conduct an experiment: throw 500 cats from an airplane, say 3,000 ft. above ground level. This way we are certain terminal velocity is attained. Record the bell-curve survival rate. Those on the ground doing the counting, wear a helmet.

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[Suidae]

I wonder if, given an inverted starting attitude, there is a certain height at which the fall would be less dangerious if it were either higher or lower.

Above this height the cat would have had time to attain a fully non-inverted attitude and so would better cope with higher impact forces. Below this height and although the cat would still be in a bad attitude, the velocity attained would be sufficently small that injury would be less likely.

This experiment would require a standard cat, as I would expect that small, fluffy, long-haired cats with tails would have a lower terminal velocity than enormously fat, bald, tailless cats. Likewise, previously fat cats who had lost substantial amounts of weight would have enough loose, baggy skin might have an advantage above certain velocities, where their excess skin would flap about in the wind, helping keep the velocity down. By stretching out their little arms and legs they might even be able to form little parachutes or planes, with which they could glide safely to the ground, much like a flying squirrel. But bigger. And uglyier.