Achievement

An interdisciplinary team of biologists and engineers in our CIBER IGERT discovery-based learning laboratory found that lizards correct body pitch in mid-air with their tail when subjected to slippery take-off surfaces. These biological findings inspired a novel approach to stabilizing rapid locomotion in terrestrial robots. To demonstrate the benefit and feasibility of this behavior, IGERT Trainee Evan Chang-Sui built a small wheeled robot, Tailbot, with inertial sensors, a microprocessor, and a single degree-of-freedom active tail. By estimating the body angle from the inertial sensors and utilizing both contact forces and zero net angular momentum maneuvering, Tailbot could take advantage of closed loop feedback control. Capabilities of Tailbot demonstrate how an active tail can improve the stability and maneuverability of terrestrial and aerial search-and-rescue vehicles and serve as a physical model to generate new hypotheses of inertial appendage control in animals.