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Bar-Cohen : Biomimetics: Biologically Inspired Technologies DK3163_c001 Final Proof page 29 21.9.2005 6:40pm

Introduction to Biomimetics 29

Figure 1.18 (See color insert) MACS crawling on a wall using suction cups.

adhering to it via suction cups. This locomotive method mimics the mechanism that flies use
to walk upside down on ceilings. Other forms of mobility on objects using methods of adhesion
include magnetic wheels. The author and his coinvestigator (Bar-Cohen and Joffe, 1997) conceived
a rover that can operate on ships and submarines using magnetic wheels. Another legged robot
is the JPL’s STAR that has four legs and can perform multiple functions, including grabbing
objects (Figure 1.19) as well as climbing rocks with the aid of the USDC (Bar-Cohen et al., 1999;
Bar-Cohen and Sherrit, 2003; Badescu et al., 2005) on each leg. The USDC is used for this purpose
since it requires a relatively low axial force to drill into hard objects. The JPL’s legged robots
are developed for potential operation in future planetary mission, where a Lemur class
robot will be able to autonomously negotiate its way through unknown terrain that is filled with
obstacles.
Creating robots that mimic the shape and performance of biological creatures has always been a
highly desirable engineering objective. Searching the Internet using the keyword robot would point