You know, a lot of robots these days are pretty specialized for some purpose or another. But here we have a robot that can navigate both water and land. Psyche!
Actually, it’s not the fact that the Salamandra Robotica II robot is multifunctional that makes it interesting. The reason it’s so unique is because of the way it moves; if you hadn’t noticed, this robot was modeled after a salamander and is likewise amphibious. Created by the Biorobotics Laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne technical university in Switzerland, this robot makes it so that the robophobic will have nowhere to hide.
But of course, this robot could also be the precursor to amphibious service robots that could maneuver through both water and land surfaces to rescue people. This could especially be useful for natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, or mudslides, which all have potential for large quantities of water that conventional robots would be unable to function under.
The main purpose of this robot, is not for some far-reaching rescue-aid goal. This robot was created to study the locomotion of vertebrates, especially in relationship to the neural pathways from the brain to the body. First, the implications include detecting how amphibians transition in brain and neural activity from transitioning from water to land.
Besides the research capabilities of the Salamandra Robotica II, it is also an interesting robot on its own. Each body section has its own microcontroller, battery, and motors. This makes it possible for the robot to work even when completely taken apart, and also means that birds in the wild who want to have a bit of lunch won’t permanently damage the robot; losing a leg or two doesn’t worsen performance at all. Finally, this ability also allows researchers to add or remove body segments, move legs, etc. that are vital to studying the body systems of real animals.
So the robotic salamander… what’s next.
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