Bio-inspired locomotion dynamics in robotics

Despite advances in robotics, the locomotive abilities of animals—including our own—are truly remarkable . To cite just a few examples, it is remarkable that, despite their extremely simple anatomy, snakes are not only capable of moving through any type of solid environment using various modes of locomotion, but can also swim and even glide. Fish, for their part, enjoy unmatched maneuverability and efficiency in water. They can turn around without even decelerating and swim effortlessly in turbulent currents. Certain insects are capable of rapid and precise aerial maneuvers and have developed subtle strategies to harvest energy from their environment. These examples alone explain why roboticists seek to design animal-inspired locomotor robots such as the ACM-III , a pioneering robot capable of replicating the lateral undulation of snakes. Measuring 2 m in length, the ACM-III is a multi-body system composed of 21 segments interconnected by 20 motorized joints; its passive wheels replicate the anisotropy of friction forces, which, in the animal, is achieved by its ventral scales , . Since then, several snake robots designed for planar or three-dimensional locomotion in rough environments have been developed