biomimicry | TechieTonics

Biomimicry: Robotic Spy Fish will do the Reconnaissance (ISR) Missions

December 17, 2014December 17, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Boston Engineering in collaboration with the U.S. Navy is developing a ‘tuna fish’, their new unmanned underwater vehicle. Developers envision that the fish would autonomously navigate across the sea for fetching information including surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions. The project has been named Project Silent Nemo that comes from Disney’s famous movie, Finding Nemo, where Nemo was the subject of search but in here, Nemo will do the finding. Swimmer drone The unmanned underwater vehicle weighs around 100-pound while it’s length is about 5 feet. As a product of…

Robots would now Learn to Fall from Cats and Divers: Biomimicry

November 17, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

It’s not just the design but the falling mechanics too are being studied for implementation by researchers in biomimicry. In an attempt to develop natural reflexes in robots, scientists at the US are studying the techniques through which cats and athletes twist their body mid-air without being injured at the landing. By recreating the similar reflexes in droids, researchers aim to cut down the probability of robots crashing especially during hazardous missions like search-and-rescue operations.

Biomimicry: Cyborg Cockroach would be the New Rescuers

November 10, 2014November 10, 2014 Neha Shukla

Cockroaches are one organism that is disliked by a majority of people but these creepy looking creatures is soon going to help in tracing humans trapped in disaster sites. Similar to penny sized micro robots, these tiny roaches can make its way through the extremely small spaces where others like dogs, camera or robots might not reach thus making rescue operation slow and risking lives of people.

Biomimicry: Baby Elephant with Parallel Mechanism Legs

June 12, 2014June 12, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Until recently, most robots were designed to assist humans, right from the kitchen to their office premises we have seen these bots performing multi-tasking. Many fascinated machines have been fabricated keeping the nature in mind and this has led to a new field within robotics called the biomimicry. Every now and then, researchers come up with mind blowing ideas and concepts which creates an awe amongst the masses and this time, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China has created the same wave with their ‘baby elephant’. The robot…

MagnetoSperm Microrobots for the Nanoworld: Biomimicry

June 4, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Nature does not stop us marveling at its splendor be it at macro level or micro scale. There are limitless options to investigate and get inspired. Biomimicry is one such field in robotics, which is completely drenched with nature’s splash. Researchers do not leave any stone unturned when dealing with robos inspired from nature, lately a concept is put forward by experts at the University of Twente, Netherlands. They have taken inspiration from nature’s locomotion at microscale and have combined the process of two micro-scale entities like magnetotactic bacteria and…

Sprinting Robot Raptor based on Velociraptor: Faster than Cheetah

June 1, 2014June 2, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Whenever we talk about speed and agility, first thing that comes to our mind is Boston Dynamics Cheetah, which runs at a speed to about 45.5 km/h. Until now, none of the bots have been able to give tough fight to the big cat, however, it seems, researchers at KAIST are preparing to stand tall with their new sprinter, Raptor. It has shown an impressive speed of 46 km/h, which happens to be slightly more than the big cat. Wow! Experts at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology’s…

Biomimicry: Outrunner’s Steering based on Bipeds Walking Mechanism

May 19, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

In an effort of inculcating the sci-fi trends – where robots are doing the great things – into the real world, researchers at the Robotics Unlimited, a spinoff of the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Florida, are working hard towards designing bots that might assume a role into the everyday life of humanity. Thinking on the same lines, they have developed a Kickstarter project, aim of which is to fabricate next-gen robots. The robots are designed keeping simplicity and convenient operation in mind along with affordability. After…

Biomimicry: Tabbot Mimics Cartwheel Movement of Desert Spider

May 9, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

After the termites inspired crew of tiny autonomous bots, insect-inspired Micro-Robots and Gimball, biomimicry has a new entrant called the Tabbot. It is a tiny bot inspired from Morocco based spiders famous for doing cartwheels effortlessly. Interestingly, these spiders are capable of doing cartwheels up and down the sand dunes. Ingo Rechenberg, a professor at the Technical University of Berlin has been credited for this discovery. In order to preserve and utilize the resourcefulness of this unique mode of locomotion, the researcher has already fabricated a small bot that works…

Biomimicry: Insect-Inspired Micro-Robots For Stealthy Surveillance

April 11, 2014July 2, 2014 Neha Shukla

Drawing inspiration from tiny insects, researchers at the University of Maryland, are developing the world’s tiniest mobile robot, suitably named as micro robots. These tiny robots are designed to take the long distance leap just as bugs do, with the aim of moving quickly or jump over any obstacle with ease in extremely rough terrain. Sarah Bergbreiter leading the research and other teammates from UM, envision the micro robots helping rescue teams in searching victims by quickly crawling through the rubble, at the disaster site, where humans and other traditional…

10 Festo Robots Based on Their Biological Models: Biomimicry

April 5, 2014April 12, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Festo, a Germany based industrial control and automation company has been into research and development of bionics since more than two decades. It collaborated with renowned universities, institutes, development companies and private inventors across the globe and launched the Bionic Learning Network during 2006. And since then it has been delving into the subject and bringing about the best of biomimicry. Every time their new project gets into air, they prove how they are able to merge industrial automation, and combining electronics with pneumatics in new and efficient ways. Here…

Biomimicry: RoboClam Replicates Atlantic Razor Clam’s Dynamics

March 27, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

Biomimicry: RoboClam Replicates Atlantic Razor Clam’s Dynamics In order to understand the efficient workings of flora and fauna, scientists always try to emulate nature’s wisdom, to which they call biomimicry. In one such attempt, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created RoboClam that digs itself into the soil to annihilate mines and to bury anchors. Atlantic razor clam (Ensis directus) has a stiff shell yet it is able to thrust itself through soil with a rate of 1cm/s. It’s been long since researchers were working upon the mechanism as…

HyQ: The Most Versatile Quadruped Robot

March 14, 2014June 12, 2014 Pooja Kashyap

With its first launch, HyQ, the brainchild of Italian Institute of Technology had already conquered how to manipulate the terrains. Now the quadruped robot has resurrected but with more tricks than before. Claudio Semini, the lead researcher claimed that the ‘second coming’ of HyQ is sodden with wide variety of motion skills that would help the bot in facing the dynamically changing terrain. Initially, the bot was designed in terms of reactive behavior, the mode that helped it from recovering from huddles but this time, the focus is kept on making…

Ghost Knifefish Inspired Autonomous Underwater Vehicle: Biomimicry

March 1, 2014March 1, 2014 Neha Shukla

In an attempt to design an underwater vehicle that can go into the depths of ocean, which are not, accessible or not safe for humans to dive in, scientists are studying the Ghost knifefish method of locomotion. The fish are known to hunt in the murky water of the Amazon basin with precision and to sense the environment, rely on the current that they pass through the water and whirl their long fin for smooth motion to move both horizontally (forward and backward) as well as vertically.

Biomimicry: Robotic Bats Might Fill the Skies Soon

February 28, 2014February 28, 2014 Pragati Kashyap

According to a recent study, the manner in which bats flap their wings could actually be the source of inspiration for the upcoming designs of flying robots. The researchers investigated the way the fruit bats made use of their wings for manipulating the air around them. By developing the correct understanding of the functioning of these processes in nature, the engineers could practically come up with the design of small flying robo machines called the micro air vehicles. According to Danesh Tafti, from Virginia Tech, bats comprise of varied shapes…

Termites Inspire Crew of Tiny Autonomous Bots: Biomimicry

February 22, 2014February 21, 2014 Neha Shukla

Inspired from termites, which are usually known for causing damages to the buildings, researchers from Harvard University have created a crew of tiny robots that are designed to work autonomously. The bio-inspired robots termed as TERMES can work without any central supervision and can carry bricks to construct structures as towers, castles and pyramids.