DynaRoach Bot Mimics Desert Lizards To Move On Sand At High Speeds

Ever tried running in a beach? I’m sure you know how difficult it is to run on the soft sands of a beach. But Lizards can do it with much ease. They can cover the distance at higher speeds. Now, a bot has been built to resemble a desert lizard. This gives the 6 legged bot the ability to mimic them and run at high speeds on soft sand.

Getting to the technical details of the DynaRoach, it is 10 cm long and weighs 25 gm. It can run on a granular substrate of closely packed 3 mm diameter particles at speeds up to 50 cm/s (1.8kmh). This speed might be lesser than the actual desert lizards but still it is a feat that is worthy of mention. Not many have been able to achieve even that.

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An earlier and bigger version of the same bot was successful when it tried to crawl but failed when it tried to run. Now, the team at Complex Rheology and Biomechanics (CRAB) Lab at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, has realized that size is an important factor when it comes to running on sand. When you view the bot’s movement on the sand’s surface, you can see that the surface acts like liquid and the robot’s leg is just pushed off the sand. Though it might not find any immediate applications, but it can be used to develop the Mars Rovers in near future. We have to wait and watch.

Till then, check out this video -

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