Robot dogs 'get feet from much bigger animal' to help battle treacherous terrain

Boffins have given dog robots moose hoof shaped footwear and let them loose in Estonian woodland to find out if it would help them cope with treacherous terrain

Boffins have given robots moose-like feet to help them run through challenging terrains.

Four legged robots often struggle to walk on slippery or muddy surroundings. But roboticists at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) have created a bio-inspired foot that makes robots practically unstoppable on tricky terrains like mud or wet snow.

Robot leg movement has been studied for years and are becoming more versatile. By adjusting how the bots walk, scientists think this will help them monitor the environment, assist in agriculture and support disaster response.

Maarja Kruusmaa, Professor of Biorobotics, said: “Muddy and slippery terrains are some of the most difficult to traverse for robots and animals, including humans.

“This means that most robots cannot access a wide range of highly important terrestrial environments, including wetlands, bogs, coastal marshes, river estuaries and fields, which are abundant in nature.”

To tackle this challenge, Simon Pierre Godon, a PhD student at TalTech, used his experience from his parents' cattle farm in Berry, France, and his mechanical engineering background. He inspired the idea to look at moose feet.

Scientists used real moose feet in laboratories and found their split hooves improved the robot’s movement, according to the research paper published in Bioinspiration & Biomimetic s.

The engineers then took one of their moose-footed dog bots into the Estonian woods to give them a real life test run.

The hooves showed an over 38% reduction in mechanical transport cost, as well as a 55% boost to speed. It also reduced their energy consumption by up to 70%.

The robo-dog slippers are made of silicone in the shape of the split moose hooves.

Professor Kruusmaa said: “We speculate that, on the contrary, the split hooves may even have advantages on uneven terrains, giving the robot or the animal some extra stability.

“We therefore recommend robots to keep their shoes on at all times.”

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