Plenty of researchers are inspired by nature when improving the design of their own robots. Binggwong Leung, Sanislav Gorb, and Poramate Manoonpong have published a paper that explores dung beetle-like robot (ALPHA) with biomechanical feet that can perform adaptive walking and ball rolling tasks on flat and uneven terrains. It can handle different ball types and heights.
As the researchers explain, the modular modular neural-based “contains a central pattern generator (CPG) module, a pattern formation network (PFN) module, and a robot orientation control (ROC) module”
[HT]