Transforming Biological Patterns into Robot Concepts

Abstract

Biology not only provides inspiration in the design of walking machines, but also suggests detailed design solutions. Concise information on legged locomotion in the animal world is presented, and the relationships between engineering solutions and the biological world are shown. The construction of animal legs is briefly described and the most commonly used leg structures for walking machines are discussed, including references to biological patterns. Examples of bio-inspired walking machines developed by our team are given and several concepts of bio-inspired robots are discussed. The general aim of the article is to show how knowledge of the animal world inspires innovative design solutions for robots intended for practical applications.