Six-Legged Robots Faster Than Nature-Inspired Gait (EPFL - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
(WorldNews Switzerland)

(Source: EPFL - École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) 17.02.17- Researchers at EPFL and UNIL have discovered a faster and more efficient gait, never observed in nature, for six-legged robots walking on flat ground. Bio-inspired gaits - less efficient for robots - are used by real insects since they have adhesive pads to walk in three dimensions. The results provide novel approaches for roboticists and new information to biologists. When vertebrates run, their legs exhibit minimal contact with the ground. But insects are different. These six-legged creatures run fastest using a three-legged, or `tripod` gait where they have three legs on the ground at all times - two on one side of their...