A team of scientists from the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) in Australia has created a prototype of a robot inspired by lizards.

The climbing robot, dubbed the X-4, was designed to mimic lizards, which are capable of climbing over rough terrain.

To climb and scale rough terrain, the researchers discovered that a lizard’s front feet rotate 20° while its rear feet rotate 100°.

Source: Schultz et al./Royal Society

"By understanding which parameters influence an animal's locomotion, we might be able to define what a robot would have to look like and how it would have to move depending on what we want the robot to do: be super-fast, super stable, or something in the middle," explained lead author and USC Ph.D. candidate Johanna Schultz.

The lizard-like robot is intended for applications including disaster relief, remote surveillance, remote inspections and, potentially, space exploration.

The research appears in the journal Proceeding of the Royal Society B.

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