BRC FY17 Topic 5 - StarBot: Biological inspiration for crawling and manipulation under hydrodynamic loads
Abstract
Sea stars have a remarkable ability to crawl along a rocky surface under extreme hydrodynamic loads. Numerous species of these marine invertebrates reside in a rocky intertidal habitat, where they are exposed to wave action in excess of 30 knots, with accelerations that exceed 40g. Despite the extreme lift and drag forces generated by these flows, sea stars are seldom dislodged as they crawl along to forage on hard-shelled prey. This is achieved through the action of hundreds of podia that line the under-surface of a sea star. These soft-bodied appendages propel the body along with coordinated action and additionally grasp and pass food particles down the array. This activity is orchestrated bya nerve net that lacks a brain.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141712062
Entities
People
- Eva Kanso
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Southern California