Older robots help to learn about lukewarm animals

A team of researchers led by Jan Auke Ijspeert of the Polytechnic University of Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) and Jean-Marie Cabelguen (INSERM Institute, France) led a team of researchers. The robots are supposed to study the motility of this vertebrate and test new designs of natural-adapted robots.

Salamandra robotica on Lake Geneva (Photo: World Science)

When dropped on the shores of Lake Geneva, the cows moved from land to swim in the water.

The salamander robot is named Salamandra robotica. It has the ability to swim, walk and crawl. According to the researchers, it can be very close to the first animals leaving the river to enter the inland.

Dr. Ijspeert explained that, in order to make this change, only change the intensity of the electrical signal that controls motor function in the central nervous system. To do this, researchers have created a digital model of the neural network of the spinal cord that controls movement similar to that of the salamanders.

This amphibian is very useful in the study of land-sea transitions as it swims like primitive fish and moves like crocodiles.

The EPFL-built robot model allows for confirmation that, as the signal strength is increased remotely through a computer, the seed is switched from land-based to underwater. This test confirms that animals leaving the water do not need to create new neuron networks to develop additional transport.

The Salamandra robotica has demonstrated that the robot industry has created a new vehicle for biologists and evolutionary experts to test their hypotheses.

LDS