ICYMI: Salamander bot and allergy cells: Good for something

Today on In Case You Missed It: A robotic salamander was invented by the EPFL and has a true to life spinal cord. Also researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine found that immune cells that normally create an over-reaction in s...

Pleurobot Acts Just Like a Real Salamander

One of the latest amazing robots to come out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) is based on a Salamander. It can mimic the way a salamander moves, on land or in the water. It goes by the name of Pleurobot (named after the species Pleurodeles waltl). It was designed by studying x-ray videos showing real salamanders walking and swimming.

salamander_robot_1zoom in


He’s pretty cute for a robot, and has the most realistic movements of any amphibian bot so far. They have built others. This is also the first one that’s “accurately based on the 3D motion of the animal’s skeleton.” Pleurobot has 3D-printed bones, motorized joints and an electronic circuitry that is basically a synthetic central nervous system.

One difference is that it has fewer vertebrae than a real salamander. This was intentional, in order to get the machine’s movements to look as authentic and natural as possible. If you wonder why researchers would spend time building a robot salamander, there’s a good underlying cause. This robot will help the team better understand vertebrate locomotion, which could in turn lead to better neuroprosthetic devices for amputees and paraplegic patients.

[via Engadget]

First-Ever Salamander in Amber Discovered


It took place 20 million years ago. A salamander struggled with a predator. And it got one of its legs cut off by the razor sharp teeth of its nemesis. Then it fell into a gooey mush of amber. There...

Robot Salamander Crawls and Swims Its Way into Our Hearts

Roboticists continue to take inspiration from animals to create new types of robot movement. This robotic salamander can swim, crawl and walk just like the real thing – only it’s not the real thing. It’s just a very good artificial copy from the Biorobotics Laboratory at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

salamander Continue reading