Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior
In this study, a bio-inspired dung beetle robot was developed that emulated the dung rolling motion of the dung beetle. Dung beetles, which can roll objects up to 1000 times their own body weight, are one of the strongest insect species in the world. While the locomotion of many insects, such as coc...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Inventions |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/3/2/22 |
| _version_ | 1811293678357970944 |
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| author | Jen-Wei Wang Yu-Sheng Chiang Jhih Chen Hao-Hsun Hsu |
| author_facet | Jen-Wei Wang Yu-Sheng Chiang Jhih Chen Hao-Hsun Hsu |
| author_sort | Jen-Wei Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study, a bio-inspired dung beetle robot was developed that emulated the dung rolling motion of the dung beetle. Dung beetles, which can roll objects up to 1000 times their own body weight, are one of the strongest insect species in the world. While the locomotion of many insects, such as cockroaches, inchworms, and butterflies, has been studied widely, the locomotion of dung beetles has rarely been given attention. Here, we report on the development of a dung beetle robot made specifically to investigate dung-rolling behavior and to determine and understand the underlying mechanism. Two versions of the robot were built, and the leg trajectories were carefully designed based on kinematic analysis. Cylinder and ball rolling experiments were conducted, and the results showed that the dung beetle robot could successfully and reliably roll objects. This further suggests that the dung beetle robot, with its current morphology, is capable of reliably rolling dung without the need for complex control strategies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:06:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-02bf2660618245088116ed0d32cef9c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2411-5134 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:06:00Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Inventions |
| spelling | doaj.art-02bf2660618245088116ed0d32cef9c72022-12-22T03:01:11ZengMDPI AGInventions2411-51342018-04-01322210.3390/inventions3020022inventions3020022Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling BehaviorJen-Wei Wang0Yu-Sheng Chiang1Jhih Chen2Hao-Hsun Hsu3Mechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, TaiwanMechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, TaiwanMechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, TaiwanMechanical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, TaiwanIn this study, a bio-inspired dung beetle robot was developed that emulated the dung rolling motion of the dung beetle. Dung beetles, which can roll objects up to 1000 times their own body weight, are one of the strongest insect species in the world. While the locomotion of many insects, such as cockroaches, inchworms, and butterflies, has been studied widely, the locomotion of dung beetles has rarely been given attention. Here, we report on the development of a dung beetle robot made specifically to investigate dung-rolling behavior and to determine and understand the underlying mechanism. Two versions of the robot were built, and the leg trajectories were carefully designed based on kinematic analysis. Cylinder and ball rolling experiments were conducted, and the results showed that the dung beetle robot could successfully and reliably roll objects. This further suggests that the dung beetle robot, with its current morphology, is capable of reliably rolling dung without the need for complex control strategies.http://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/3/2/22dung beetlerobotdung rollingbio-inspiration |
| spellingShingle | Jen-Wei Wang Yu-Sheng Chiang Jhih Chen Hao-Hsun Hsu Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior Inventions dung beetle robot dung rolling bio-inspiration |
| title | Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior |
| title_full | Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior |
| title_fullStr | Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior |
| title_full_unstemmed | Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior |
| title_short | Development of a Dung Beetle Robot and Investigation of Its Dung-Rolling Behavior |
| title_sort | development of a dung beetle robot and investigation of its dung rolling behavior |
| topic | dung beetle robot dung rolling bio-inspiration |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2411-5134/3/2/22 |
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