LONDON : Biophysicist Explains What We Can Learn by Making Animal Robots

LONDON : Evolution has been innovating for billions of years longer than human engineers. So it’s only natural that animals have a head start when it comes to developing efficient and reliable ways to move. That hasn’t stopped engineers from trying to mimic and even outdo nature in an attempt to understand and surpass evolution’s secrets.

We joined biophysicist Dwight Whitaker at Pomona College to show him some of the wildest animal-inspired robots we could find to get his reactions.
Whitaker taught us about the various lessons engineers were taking from these animals, how they were applying them to make robotics more efficient, robust, and dynamic, and where humans may have out-engineered nature.