49. What Robots Can Learn from Starfish and Falcons

The Next Byte Podcast · 21 Dec 2021 · 25m

What this episode covers

Hosts Daniel and Forbode discuss biomimicry in robotics, starting with a video of Grant Imahara visiting Carnegie Mellon University to explore bio-inspired robots like the snake robot. They then detail a starfish larva-inspired micro-robot developed at ETH Zurich that uses ultrasonic waves for targeted drug delivery, and a Peregrine Falcon-inspired drone landing system called 'Snag' developed by Stanford graduates at the University of Groningen.

Mentioned

Companies
Carnegie Mellon University, ETH Zurich, University of Groningen, Stanford University, Mouser Electronics
Products
Snag
Also
Grant Imahara

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Robot Talk · 44m

    Episode Seventeen – Bioinspired Robots: learning from nature

    Valentina Lo Gatto, a PhD student at the Bristol Robotics Lab, explains her jellyfish-inspired soft robot and salt-inspired colony robots designed for exploring subsurface oceans on moons like Europa. David Hardman, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, discusses bio-inspired soft sensors and biodegradable gelatin-based materials for agricultural and medical applications. Adrian Thomas, founder of Animal Dynamics, describes how his company uses bio-inspiration to design the 'Stork' cargo drone and 'Skeeter Dragonfly' surveillance drone, focusing on aerodynamic efficiency and control bandwidth derived from animal flight.

  • Robot Talk · 25m

    Episode 107: Animal-inspired robot movement - Robert Siddall

    Robert Siddall, a lecturer in Robotics at the University of Surrey, discusses bio-inspired robot designs aimed at solving environmental problems. He details the development of a pangolin-inspired seed-planting robot that won the 2023 Natural Robotics contest, explaining the mechanical challenges of its rolling and digging mechanisms. Siddall also describes his PhD work on a gannet-inspired flying and diving robot, highlighting the difficulties of transitioning between air and water, and his research into gecko-inspired gliding robots for robust aerial movement.

  • Robot Talk · 28m

    Episode 68: Bat-inspired robots - Rolf Mueller

    Rolf Mueller, a professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech, discusses his work on biomimetic flapping-wing robots and sonar systems designed to navigate complex natural environments. He explains how bats offload signal processing into their physical ear structures, enabling low-latency, low-data-rate autonomy that current robotic systems struggle to replicate. Mueller details using deep learning to extract navigation data directly from ultrasonic clutter echoes, achieving location precision comparable to GPS under foliage without building digital environment models. The research aims to apply these bio-inspired sensing and mobility principles to outdoor automation challenges like agriculture, environmental cleanup, and wildfire monitoring.

  • Robot Talk · 21m

    Episode 140: Robot balance and agility - Amir Patel

    Amir Patel, an Associate Professor at University College London, discusses his research into bio-inspired robotics, specifically how studying cheetah locomotion informs the design of agile robots. He explains the discovery that cheetah tails function primarily through aerodynamic forces rather than inertial mass, leading to new robot tail designs. Patel also details his work in applying robotics techniques like sensor fusion and computer vision to monitor wildlife health and movement in the field.

  • Robot Talk · 52m

    Episode Fifty-Four: Robot Talk Live - Robotics and Science Fiction

    Clare Asher hosts a live discussion at the Great Exhibition Road Festival with Glyn Morgan of the Science Museum, Bani Anvari of University College London, and Thrishantha Nanayakara of Imperial College London to explore the intersection of robotics and science fiction. Glyn Morgan argues that science fiction serves as a cognitive tool and 'laboratory of the mind,' shaping public perception through iconic figures like Robbie the Robot and R2-D2 while often misdirecting debate toward 'robot uprisings' rather than real-world ethical issues. Bani Anvari details her research on intelligent mobility, including drone logistics, autonomous shuttles, and haptic feedback in vehicles, highlighting the gap between predictable environments and unpredictable edge cases involving vulnerable road users. Thrishantha Nanayakara explains how his Morphlab uses soft robotics to study biological principles, such as mountain goat hooves, and applies these insights to develop robotic patients for medical training and environmental monitoring robots for the Alps.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Next Byte Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.