How ‘Domestication’ of Robotic Organisms May Change The Future
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While humans have not quite yet managed to domesticate every species, focusing more notably on those of the canine and feline family trees, the collaboration between man and animal species changed a culture of hunter-gatherers into the most successful civilization documented in our history on this Earth. While they have not always been easy to tame, species like horses and even falcons became invaluable assets in the times leading up to the industrial revolution, and have remained a large part of our culture since then.
And now as technology advances, man still looks to his animal companion to help him find answers to the problems of the world. While humans are limited by our relatively small ability to adapt, other species have discovered innovative ways of achieving the unachievable, and are able to forage and explore even the highest peaks and lowest depths with relatively no problems. And modern robotics would like to know how.
Over the years animals have proven invaluable assets with their unique sets of abilities. Falcons and dolphins can be trained to survey both land and sea. Horses can traverse land far faster than man alone. Swine are used to sniff out the valuable truffles along muddy ground. And nearly all canine species, including wolves and foxes, have been recruited by hunters for their incredible tracking abilities that far exceed anything man could sense. They're unique talents that, if replicated in modern robotics, could be refined and used in practical applications.
In recent months we've seen an outpour of robotic organisms, but they may not be the traditional 'pets' you're thinking of. Ranging from sidewinder rattlesnakes to giant jellyfish and even origami cranes, researchers are investigating the most unique abilities found in biomechanics and are finding the best ways to scale even the toughest of mountains.
While most general robotics with wheels and legs can cross most of land, full application of robotics is limited by three feats: tight enclosure, sandy medium, and the depths of the sea. And while they may not seem like the most practical places for robotics to be, they are valuable options to explore for the safety of man. In fact, the US Navy and other military divisions worldwide have partnered with roboticists to explore developing robotics that could aid in search & rescue missions and treacherous explorations, that could one day save lives in the aftermath of a disaster.
So what's the newest advancements made in the robotic 'domestication'?
Foldable Autobots In Origami Form
Integrating a creative concept that makes use of the ancient art of origami, researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering have developed the world's first self-folding autobots that can not only transform but also can move. Transforming from a flat sheet of paper, fully equipped with circuitry and a robotic "brain", into a fully-functional robot in under four minutes, researchers are exploring how robotic dynamos could one day shuffle through rocks and rubble to fit into the tiniest of enclosures in a search and rescue mission.
"To demonstrate the application of [origami] to the fabrication of machines, we developed a crawling robot that folds itself" lead researcher of the study published in the journal Science, PhD student Sam Felton says. "To accomplish this, we developed shape-memory composites that fold themselves along embedded hinges. We used these composites to recreate fundamental folded patterns, derived from computational origami, that can be extrapolated to a wide range of mechanisms."
Deep Sea Jellyfish Explores the Deep
Developed by a team of researchers at Virginia Tech College of Engineering, looking to harness the fundamentals of propulsion mechanisms used in nature, robotic creatures called "RoboJelly" are already exploring oceans on entirely their own energy. Built in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, these robotic jellyfish are able to conserve a lot of energy based on their large size and are able to move freely throughout shallow and deep waters through their unique form of propulsion mimicked by the biomechanics of many medusa species.
"Jellyfish are attractive candidates to mimic because of their ability to consume little energy owing to a lower metabolic rate than other marine species, survivability in varying water conditions, and possession of adequate shape for carrying a payload" lead researcher of the project Shashank Priya says.
And the payload could be one of many great technological applications. Co-author of the study, PhD student Alex Villanueva says "the robots could be used to study aquatic life, map ocean floors, monitor ocean currents, monitor water quality, detect ocean pollutants, or even monitor sharks."
Search & Rescue Sidewinder Rattlesnakes
A granular substrate, which moves like fluid, sand is a particularly challenging terrain for most species, which is only one reason why so few species inhabit the desolate deserts. But in looking for a way to make it through the sandy slopes, researchers looked to the snake species of the deserts to create a sidewinder rattlesnake robot that could slither its way through the sand.
Developed by a team at Georgia Tech, researchers recently described their findings in this week's issue of the journal Science, which tested a robotic snake look-alike to the real thing. Running both real and robotic snakes through identical sandy obstacle slopes, the researchers were able to view the sidewinder rattlesnake's movement in an entirely new light, shedding insight on how to harness that movement to make robotics even better.
By testing the venomous rattlesnakes' ability to move across sandy inclines as high as 20 degrees, the researchers were able to find that the sidewinders were increasing the contact length of the "zig" segments of their bodies with the sand, allowing them to propagate forward pulling their "zag" segments of the body without getting stuck in the sand. And the changes, when incorporated into the snake robot's software bodyplan movement, allowed the robotic dopplegangers to traverse sandy hills that it once found impossible to overcome.
"The work of these researchers demonstrates the strength of integrating biology, engineering, and physics, providing the finest example to date of the reciprocal use of animals and robots for mutual illumination" Virginia Tech researcher, not involved with the study, John Socha said in a review of the study published in the journal Science. "The drive to understand the mechanics of sidewinding has brought us one step closer to achieving lifelike locomotion in robots."
