Like A Cat, New Robot Lands On Its Feet

eckenheimer writes "Students at the Physics Department at Drury University have developed a robot that uses motions and contortions of its body to orient itself in zero gravity. According to the project site, 'If you've ever seen a cat land on its feet after falling while upside down then you've seen the idea behind our project.' The effort is a proposal for the NASA Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program."

Comments

Like a...?

[SIGALRM]

If you've ever seen a cat land on its feet after falling while upside down

I'm looking forward to their "like-a-dog" model: word on the street is, licks its own ass.

Now that's using "motions and contortions".

Re:Like a...?

[grunt107]

I would merge the cat/dog projects.

All the loyalty of a cat with the cleanliness of a dog

Now all we need is buttered bread

[Anonymous Coward]

...to stick on its back and we'll have an antigravity engine.

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[captnjameskirk]

the acceleration due to gravity might result in an unpleasant aftermath

Actually, it's the deceleration when meeting the ground that is usually the culprit.

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[no longer myself]

I'm just having this morbidly funny image of people throwing cats out windows as part of a government study to test that "statistic":

"Damn, Bob... Did you see that? He might have made it if that cab driver hadn't run over him."

"Yeah, Pete. Let's take this tabby up to the 23rd floor. Oh, by the way, did you hear they're working on a robot that mimics this sort of behavior."

"I think I did read something about that, Bob, but tossing an expensive piece of hardware out the window just isn't as satisfying."

"You've never owned a Mac, have you, Pete?"