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| Despite its simple design, RightingBot rights itself in mid-air with a swing of its tail just like the lizards that inspired it. Credit: Tom Libby |
Because of different body structures, cats and lizards land upright using different techniques. Lizards land upright by swinging their large tails one way to rotate their body the other.
Studying how these animals can land on their feet could help in developing devices and designs for vehicles, structures and even robots.
Falling lizards use tail for mid-air twist, inspiring lizard-like 'RightingBot'
Lizards, just like cats, have a knack for turning right side up and landing on their feet when they fall. But how do they do it? Unlike cats, which twist and bend their torsos to turn upright, lizards swing their large tails one way to rotate their body the other, according to a recent study that will be presented at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on 29th June in Salzburg, Austria. A lizard-inspired robot, called 'RightingBot', replicates the feat.
This work, carried out by Ardian Jusufi, Robert Full and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, explains how large-tailed animals can turn themselves right side up while falling through the air. It could also help engineers to design air- or land-based robots with better stability.
"It is not immediately obvious which mechanism an animal will use to accomplish aerial righting and recover from falling in an upside-down posture. Depending on body size, morphology and mass distribution there are multiple strategies for animals to execute this behavior," said Ardian Jusufi, lead author of the study.
