By Charles Carter, 5/9/22
German industrial tech company Festo developed a somersaulting spider bot back in 2016, inspired by the Moroccan flic-flac spider.
It transforms between rolling and walking mode depending on the type of surface – slower walking mode for trickier terrain and speedier rolling mode for smooth surfaces.
The BionicWheelBot is the brainchild of Prof. Rechenberg, Technical University of Berlin, who discovered the spider back in 2008.
He produced the innovation in collaboration with the bionics team at Festo, who create many bio-inspired prototype bots via their Bionic Learning Network initiative.
How does it work?
The bot curls up six of its eight legs to form two wheels for rolling, using the remaining two legs to give it a push after every roll cycle.
Just like the flic-flac spider, when walking the bot tucks in the two legs used for pushing mode and uses the other six legs to perform an alternating three-legged walk.
Three legs remain on the ground while the other three are first lifted, make a forward movement, and then are lowered back to the ground, and the process repeats.
Its 3D-printed legs are powered by 15 small servo motors located in the knee joints and body. And fourteen self-locking worm drives ensure that the spider only has to expend energy to move its legs – but not to keep its body upright when standing.
Rechenberg came across the incredible spider on the sand dunes of the Erg Chebbi desert on the edge of the Sahara. He observed that when threatened, it employs the somersaulting locomotion to zip away at two metres per second – double its walking speed.
The spider can grow up to 19.5 mm in length, Festo’s artificial counterpart is much larger at 570 mm.
Tangent box (Sahara -> wave): The world record for most people waving foam fingers simultaneously is 1,709, and was achieved by Delaware State University (USA) in Dover, Delaware, USA, on 19 October 2019. (hmm OK…but why? Tangential thinking is key for creativity and innovation)
What are the potential benefits?
The dual locomotion modes enable the bot to tackle smooth and rough terrain with appropriate speed. This could give advantages in real-world applications such as security and surveillance settings or search and rescue missions e.g. in the aftermath of an earthquake where rapidity is of the essence.
What are the potential costs?
The BionicWheelBot is not available to purchase commercially and there is no publicly available information on the cost of development of the prototype.
Creativity breakdown
Creativity and innovation is just combining things to make something new. Three of the ideas combined in this innovation are the servo motor, Moroccan flic-flac spider locomotion and 3D printing:
- A servo motor is a rotary actuator or linear actuator that allows for precise control of angular or linear position, velocity and acceleration
- Moroccan flic-flac spider locomotion as described above
- Modern 3D printing was invented by Charles Hull in 1984 through his patent for stereolithography, the first commercial rapid prototyping technology
The creativity and open mindedness of Prof. Rechenberg and the Festo team fused with branching creativity and open mindedness from times gone by to produce this dazzling innovation.
Questions for you. Comment below
- First thought that comes into your head?
- Pros and cons according to you?
- Agree with our creativity breakdown?
- Other applications of this approach?
- What could this be combined with?