A Novel Water Running Robot Inspired by Basilisk Lizards

— This paper introduces a novel robot which can run on the surface of water in a manner similar to basilisk lizards. Previous studies on the lizards themselves have characterized their method of propulsion and their means of staying afloat. By slapping and stroking their feet into the water, the lizard effects a momentum transfer which provides both forward thrust and lift. The design of a biomimetic robot utilizing similar principles is discussed, modeled, and prototyped. Functionally, the robot uses a pair of identical four bar mechanisms, with a 180o phase shift to achieve bipedal locomotion on the water’s surface. Computational and experimental results are presented and reviewed with the focus being a maximization of the lift to power ratio. After optimization, two legged models can experimentally provide 12-15 g/W of lift while four legged models can provide 50 g/W of lift. This work opens the door for bipedal and quadrupedal robots to become ambulatory over both land and wat...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: IROS
• Authors: Steven Floyd, Terence Keegan, John Palmisano, Metin Sitti
• Keywords: Biomimetic Robot, Bipedal Locomotion, IROS 2006, Robotics, Robots