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The peristaltic crawling of an earthworm inspired Professor Taro Nakamura of Japan's Chuo University to create an effective robot for narrow spaces.
As reported in the Illawara Mercury spent 10 years researching and developing the "earthworm robot". The robot has been adapted into a lunar excavator to allow scientists to burrow underneath the surface of the moon.
Other robots mimicking animal movements that humans cannot perform include a water glider robot for skimming across water and a snail robot for going up walls.
"Developing bio-inspired robots is an important mission of mechatronics," said Nakamura.
Nakamura was in Australia to participate in the 2013 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics was recently held in Wollongong.
The AIM 2013 conference brought together an international community of experts to discuss the state-of-the-art, new research results, perspectives of future developments, and innovative applications relevant to mechatronics, robotics, control, automation, and related areas.
The theme of the conference was “Mechatronics for Human Wellbeing”, which emphasised the significance of Mechatronics in enhancing the quality of life for society.