Salamander robot swims and walks

[PeterD]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The first animal to crawl onto land from the ocean probably looked a bit like today's salamander, and researchers have wondered how it was able to switch from swimming to walking.

Now, European scientists have built a robot with a primitive electric nervous system that they say mimics that change in motion.


Click here (http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/03/08/salamander.robot.ap/index.html) for the complete article!



-- Pete

[dporter]

You beat me to the punch Pete. I logged on to post the same link. The article brings up an interesting point though. Many early lifeforms, especially in groups like the insects, were able to adapt to conditions because of their modular nature. Adding more segments (centipedes for example) allows them to expand and change body forms easily and then by modifying the segments they can adapt to special tasks. It is intersesting to see many robots designers taking the same approach. The superbot I posted the other day and the salamander you posted are examples. Even the humanoid designs use similar parts (servos and brackets) but by slightly modifying the configuration many different designs can be created.