"Cyber-Roach" Forces Rethink On Animal Movement 41
Lanxon writes "A team of researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in London has built a 'cyber-cockroach' (a cockroach wearing an accelerometer in a tiny backpack) to try and better understand the movements of many-legged animals. They found that unlike bipedal creatures, animals with more than two legs don't adjust their movements when walking over a softer surface."
The academic paper is available from the Journal of Experimental Biology. This research will be helpful in finding better ways for multi-legged robots to navigate difficult terrain.
Re:A bit of a stretch (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A bit of a stretch (Score:4, Interesting)
Lookup some of Dr. Roger Quinn's work. I can't find the videos he showed at a recent lecture in the UK, but they demonstrated how the much-maligned Whegs are really a lot cleverer than they look.