New Delhi: One of the most fascinating transitions in evolutionary history is of fish moving out of the water and into land. This transition however, is still not well understood, with the scientific understanding constantly improving with new research. A multidisciplinary team made up of palaeontologists, roboticists and biologists have come up with the innovative method of using robots to fill in the gaps in the fossil record, allowing scientists to precisely understand the stresses experienced on joints, and the energy requirements of various modes of locomotion. The robots were inspired by a combination of extant ‘walking-fish’ such as mudskippers, and the fossils of ancient fish.
The researchers are mimicking a range of ancient fish skeletons, with mechanical joints to mimic muscles and ligaments. The researchers then intend to explore how these ancient creatures moved about through a series of experiments. Many of the animals in the fossil record are known only by fragmented remains, which makes it difficult to understand the range of movement possible for these creatures. This is where robotics provides scientists with a window into understanding the biomechanics of animals that have disappeared from the Earth ages ago.
Palaeoinspired robotics
Bioinspired robots have allowed scientists to develop robots that can stick to vertical surfaces, fly by flapping their wings rapidly like an insect or a bat, grab on securely to delicate objects such as lightbulbs using structures inspired by cockroach legs, and glide through the water like rays. Such robots have potential use in extraterrestrial exploration, disaster response, surveillance and resource prospecting. The researchers have suggested a new paradigm, called palaeoinspired robots, that are inspired by a combination of features from a variety of extinct animals, as against using a single living animal as a reference. A paper describing palaeoinspired robotics has been published in Science Robotics.
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