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

Cats landing on their feet

[thedogcow]

This was explained to me in my physics for engineers class...

Cats reposition themselves to land on their feet because they can sense the change in velocity (dv/dt = acceleration). My professor stated this only works for small height values (less than 20 ft), otherwise, the acceleration due to gravity might result in an unpleasant aftermath.

Re:Where's the beef?

[enforcer999]

Here you go. It is not a very "pretty" robot but it could have its uses.

RGSFOP

[ghack]

As an individual who has participated in the RGSFOP program, I have seen a number of novel experiments, but this particular experiment is a retread that has been done many, many times. Last March, for example, Washington-St. Louis did a very interesting experiment involving zero-gravity orientation of a space vehicle. The typical RGSFOP experiment fails, however, although my University did experience a success this year.

A list of active RGSFOP teams