{"id":415,"date":"2018-09-24T21:21:34","date_gmt":"2018-09-25T04:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2018w112\/?p=415"},"modified":"2018-09-24T21:21:34","modified_gmt":"2018-09-25T04:21:34","slug":"the-robotic-tail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/communicatingscience2018w112\/2018\/09\/24\/the-robotic-tail\/","title":{"rendered":"The Robotic Tail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever wondered why certain animals have tails? Did you ever think that a robot might need a tail as well?<\/p>\n

Many disciplines of Science stress on the importance of observing the nature. Biomimetics<\/a>, the process of imitating nature, can also be applied to the field of robotics. And so, the idea of a robotic tail was born. In fact, a robotic tail can be used to adjust the inertia<\/a> of a mobile robot which in turn can enhance the robot’s stability and maneuverability.\u00a0In reality, a reaction wheel<\/a> can also be used to adjust the robot’s inertia. But, according to the research article prepared by Briggs et al.<\/a>\u00a0, a robotic tail can provide a greater moment of inertia than a reaction wheel within a given amount of space and time. Thus it safe to say that robotic tails are more appropriate for mobile robots.<\/p>\n

\"\"picture courtesy: Daniel Koditschek<\/em><\/p>\n

The following video demonstrates how the MIT cheetah robot maintains stability with the help of a tail when hit by a ball. Note that the left frame of the video shows the cheetah with a fixed tail whereas the right frame of the video shows the cheetah with a movable tail.<\/p>\n