Fast ground-to-air transition with avian-inspired multifunctional legs

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 636; no. 8041; pp. 86 - 91
• Main Authors: Shin, Won Dong, Phan, Hoang-Vu, Daley, Monica A., Ijspeert, Auke J., Floreano, Dario
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 05.12.2024; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/601/18; 631/61/2049; 639/166/988; Air; Aircraft - instrumentation; Animals; Ankle; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomimetics - instrumentation; Biomimetics - methods; Birds; Birds - anatomy & histology; Birds - physiology; Complexity; Energy distribution; Energy efficiency; Extremities - anatomy & histology; Extremities - physiology; Flight; Flight, Animal - physiology; Gait; Gait - physiology; Hip joint; Humanities and Social Sciences; Jumping; Kinematics; Leg; Legs; Limbs; Locomotion; Locomotion - physiology; Mass distribution; Motion; multidisciplinary; Robot dynamics; Robotics; Robotics - instrumentation; Robotics - methods; Robots; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Terrestrial environments; Walking; Walking - physiology; Wings; Wings, Animal - physiology

Most birds can navigate seamlessly between aerial and terrestrial environments. Whereas the forelimbs evolved into wings primarily for flight, the hindlimbs serve diverse functions such as walking, hopping and leaping, and jumping take-off for transitions into flight 1 . These capabilities have insp...