The future of space exploration is a transforming, animal-like robot, scientists say
A real-life transforming robot designed to mimic the movement of animals that roam Planet Earth will eventually change the way other planets and celestial bodies will be explored, researchers say.
The robot, nicknamed the "Morphobot," was inspired by animals such as birds, meerkats and seals, and can perform different modes of movement to navigate its environment, including flying, rolling, crawling, crouching, balancing and tumbling, according to a paper published in Nature on Tuesday.
Some animals have adapted the use of their limbs to allow them to tackle different terrains, such as sea lions walking on land using their flippers, meerkats standing on their hind legs to scout their surroundings and chukar birds using their wings to walk on all fours up steep inclines -- all examples engineers utilized on their newest creation.
By mimicking animals' limb repurposing abilities, the mobile robots can be designed with multi-functional limbs to navigate complex terrains by adapting their movement strategies, the researchers said.
The Morphobot was designed to travel over various terrains on land and in the air by transforming its appendages between wheels, propellors, legs and hands. The M4 robot weighs around 13 pounds, is about 27.5 inches wide and 13.8 inches tall. It also has four legs, each comprising two joints, and ducted fans fixed at the leg ends. The fans are able to transition between functioning as legs, propellor thrusters, or wheels
The robot is able to adapt its movements to walk on rough terrain, trek up steep slopes, tumble over large obstacles, fly to higher levels and crawl under low-ceiling pathways, Alireza Ramezani, an assistant professor of electrical computer engineering at Northeastern University and author of the study, told ABC News.
When the creation of the Morphobot began, Ramezani, an expert in robot locomotion known for his bio-inspired designs, envisioned a machine that integrated ground and aerial mobility, using the Rovers NASA has used to explore Mars as a starting point, he said.
In 2017, Ramezani's "Bat Bot," a robot created to study flight specializations, was the cover story for Science Magazine. He believes his newest design is the future of space exploration, he said.
"I'm confident it is going to replace some old-fashioned traditional multimodal concepts at NASA," Ramezani said, adding the research was sponsored by NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab and the National Science Foundation.
In addition to space exploration, the findings from the researcher can also help improve the design of robots that travel through diverse environments on Earth, such as those used in search and rescue responses after natural disasters, and automated package delivery, the researchers said.
The transformability will be especially important for situations when robots have to operate in compromised infrastructure, such as collapsed buildings, Ramezani said. While aerial mobility is overall faster than ground mobility, it would not be possible inside a crumbling edifice.
"The whole idea is to change the way that future space explorations look and how to get to these inaccessible environments," Ramezani said.
