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Out There If The Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able To See Them?

The document summarizes an article about a new rescue robot called Tailbot that is designed to help in disaster situations. Researchers at UC Berkeley observed how agama lizards and velociraptors use their tails to balance and land safely after jumping. They applied this insight to create Tailbot, which can maneuver its tail in midair like the animals to stabilize itself and ensure a perfect landing over difficult terrain to help with search and rescue efforts.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
40 views2 pages

Out There If The Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able To See Them?

The document summarizes an article about a new rescue robot called Tailbot that is designed to help in disaster situations. Researchers at UC Berkeley observed how agama lizards and velociraptors use their tails to balance and land safely after jumping. They applied this insight to create Tailbot, which can maneuver its tail in midair like the animals to stabilize itself and ensure a perfect landing over difficult terrain to help with search and rescue efforts.

Uploaded by

madhan2388
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Out There If the Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able to See Them?

Strange glows on distant worlds could indicate extraterrestrial civilizationsor intriguing new astronomical phenomena.
by Steve Nadis From the July-August special issue; published online August 7, 2012

The Velociraptor-Like Robot That Could Save Your Life


A balancing trick used by geckos, and possibly dinosaurs, is helping to make more agile and helpful rescue robots.
by Valerie Ross From the September 2012 issue; published online August 28, 2012

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On your mark, get set, go! Tailbot may not have the speed of an agama lizard (left) or an extinct velociraptor (right), but it is just as adept at maneuvering its tail in midair to set up a perfect landing.

Dr Torsten Wittmann/Science Photo Library

Biologist Robert Fulls lab is brimming with critters in motion: scuttling crabs, crawling centipedes, prowling geckos. These animals serve as inspiration as he and his colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, build robots that are fast, steady, and agile. In January, Full used his analysis of leaping lizards to design a rugged bot that can navigate through the rubble following an earthquake or other disaster. Fulls breakthrough came from observing Africanagama lizards, which have a remarkable ability to stick a perfect landing after vaulting through the air. The lizards keep their balance during flight, Full found, by moving their tails up and down to counteract the motion of their bodies and keep themselves stable. He thought about how he could apply that technique to search-and-rescue robots, which must remain upright as they clamber across precarious terrain.

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