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

Re:Cats landing on their feet

[pontifier]

Cats reposition themselves to land on their feet because they can sense the change in velocity (dv/dt = acceleration).

Your professor was an ass. In freefall you can't "sense" the acceleration because you are in a (mostly) uniform gravitational field. You need outside clues such as air rushing past you, or the ground approaching rapidly to tell where down is.