Like its biological model, the flic-flac spider, the BionicWheelBot can both walk and roll. Together with its discoverer, Professor Ingo Rechenberg, the Festo bionics team has used these unique movement patterns and turned them into a technical masterpiece for the Hannover Messe 2018.
BionicWheelBot
Walk and roll like a flic-flac spider
New drive concepts and amazing forms of movement have always played an important role in our Bionic Learning Network. With the BionicWheelBot, a walking robot with very special properties has emerged, inspired by the flic-flac spider.
The biological model for the BionicWheelBot is the flic-flac spider (cebrennus rechenbergi). It lives in the Erg Chebbi desert on the edge of the Sahara. Professor Ingo Rechenberg, a bionics processor at the TU Berlin, discovered it there in 2008. The flic-flac spider can walk like other spiders. It can also propel itself into the air, however, with a combined sequence of somersaulting and rolling on the ground.
The flic-flac spider: perfectly adapted to its habitat
It is, therefore, ideally adapted to its surroundings: on even ground, it is twice as fast in so-called rolling mode than when walking. However, where it is uneven, it is faster walking normally. As such, in the desert, where both types of terrain can be found, it is able to move safely and efficiently.
Since its discovery, Professor Rechenberg has been working on transferring its movement patterns to the technical field. The studies into the spider’s behaviour led to the design of various robots that can propel themselves on difficult terrain. For the BionicWheelBot, the scientist from Berlin has now developed the kinematics and drive concept together with our bionics team.
