The Creepy-Crawly-Swimmy Salamandra Robotica II (+VIDEO)
The Biorobotics Laboratory at EPFL (Ãcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) has presented its last generation amphibious robot, combining robotics, evolution and neurobiology at the largest European exhibition of service robotics. The Salamandra robotica II is now much more robust, faster and more powerful than the 2007 prototype and it appears to be a unique robotdue to its abilities to swim, crawl and walk. A new generation of amphibious robots that can change their speed, direction or locomotion mode by the transmission of simple commands from a remote station could be widely used in search and rescue operations.The robot uses a digital version of a spinal cord neural network to control its movements. A remote computer triggers electrical signals that mimic those coming from a real salamander’s brain. The signals control the walking and swimming modes, as well as the speed and direction of the robot’s movement.
Via:phys.org
