2023-11-08 13:33:55
Robotic replica of a creature from 450 million years ago – CARNEGIE MELON UNIVERSITY
MADRID, 8 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Mechanical engineers at Carnegie Melon University have used fossil evidence to design a soft robotic replica of a marine organism that existed almost 450 million years ago.
It is believed that the pleurocystitidae They were one of the first echinoderms – the group to which starfish belong – capable of moving using a muscular stem.
In collaboration with paleontologists from Spain and Poland, the Carnegie Melon College of Engineering team is introducing Paleobionics, a field aimed at using Softbotics, robotics with flexible electronics and soft materials, to understand the biomechanical factors that drove evolution using organisms. extinct.
“Our goal is to use Softbotica to bring biological systems back to life, in the sense that we can imitate them to understand how they work,” he said. it’s a statement Phil LeDuc, professor of mechanical engineering and co-senior author of the research.
Using computer simulations and soft robots, they have given new life to a pleurocystitidae. Despite the absence of a current analogue, these creatures have been of interest to paleontologists due to their fundamental role in the evolution of echinoderms.
“Softbotics is another approach to informing science by using soft materials to build flexible robot limbs and appendages. Many fundamental principles of biology and nature can only be fully explained if we look back at the evolutionary timeline of how robots evolved. animals. We are building analog robots to study how locomotion has changed“explained Carmel Majidi, lead author and professor of mechanical engineering.
The team used fossil evidence to guide their design and a combination of 3D-printed elements and polymers to mimic the flexible columnar structure of the mobile appendage to build the robot.
They showed that pleurocystitids could probably move on the sea floor with the help of a stem that pushed the animal forward and determined that wide, sweeping movements were probably the most effective movement. Increasing stem length was also found to significantly increase the animals’ speed without forcing them to exert more energy.
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