A physical model of mantis shrimp for exploring the dynamics of ultrafast systems

Abstract

Many small organisms produce ultrafast movements by storing elastic energy and mediating its storage and rapid release through a latching mechanism. The mantis shrimp in particular imparts extreme accelerations on rotating appendages to strike their prey. Biologists have hypothesized, but not tested, that there exists a geometric latching mechanism which mediates the actuation of the appendage. Inspired by the anatomy of the mantis shrimp striking appendage, we develop a centimeter-scale robot which emulates the linkage dynamics in the mantis shrimp and study how the underlying geometric latch is able to control rapid striking motions. Our physical and analytical models could also be extended to other behaviors such as throwing or jumping in which high power over short duration is required.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Aug 13, 2021
Source ID
10.1073/pnas.2026833118

Entities

People

  • Emma Steinhardt
  • Gregory Freeburn
  • Je-Sung Koh
  • Michelle Rosen
  • Nak-seung Patrick Hyun
  • Robert J Wood
  • Sheila Patek
  • Zeynep Temel

Organizations

  • Ajou University
  • Army Research Office
  • Carnegie Mellon University
  • Duke University
  • Harvard University
  • United States Army Research Laboratory

Tags

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Robotics and Automation.
  • Vision Science/Vision Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • AI & ML - Autonomous Systems
  • Autonomy
  • Autonomy - Autonomous System Control