Crab-bot

Underwater exploration may become easier in the future thanks to a new prototype crab-like robot invented by a Bath University postgraduate student.

’Nature knows what works best and can be a source of inspiration for engineering design,’ said Charles Gage, the Biomimetics & Technical Creativity MSc student who developed the crab-bot. ’Crabs are perfect models for the kind of robot we wanted because they are ‘tried and tested’ amphibious vehicles. We studied the way crabs walk, their posture, gait and stride length. Then we applied this information on a model robot.’

The robot was built to copy the features of crabs with four pairs of legs divided in two halves. Hence, the design is very stable, allows changes in direction, and prevents mechanical interference between the legs. The robot can also vary its walking speed by changing stride length, just as crabs do in nature, whilst maintaining the same motor speed.

This unique approach makes the robot very energy-efficient, according to Gage.