German automation company Festo has designed a new robot based on the flic-flac spider, which apparently does cartwheels to get around. Naturally, the “BionicWheelBot” resembles an arachnid in its default mode, but it can also turn into a ball of sorts, allowing it to roll. Festo also introduced the “BionicFlyingFox,” a bat robot smart enough to fly by itself.



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.



Flying fox as inspiration: thanks to its intelligent kinematics, the BionicFlyFox can master the agile flying manoeuvres of its natural role model. In order to be able to move in a defined space semi-autonomously, it communicates constantly with a motion-tracking system.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Festo’s Latest Robots Are a Rolling Spider and Semi-Autonomous Bat