{"id":976,"date":"2018-05-08T11:15:31","date_gmt":"2018-05-08T10:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/?p=976"},"modified":"2018-08-31T13:23:13","modified_gmt":"2018-08-31T12:23:13","slug":"jumping-spiders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/in-abstract\/jumping-spiders\/","title":{"rendered":"Energy and time optimal trajectories in exploratory jumps of the spider Phidippus regius"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jumping spiders inspire leap in micro robots<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jumping spiders get their name from their ability to perform highly athletic and precise jumps for the purposes of moving about in their environment and catching prey. Scientific measurement of jumping behaviour is challenging because the spiders are very small and the jumps are over in a fraction of a second. Now, researchers at the University of Manchester have been able to capture the action! The research is ground breaking in that it is the first in which a spider has been trained to jump between platforms of varying height and distance, with results recorded using ultra-high-speed, high-resolution cameras, and detailed leg geometry captured using 3D X-ray scanning. Results show that for close-range jumps associated with prey capture, the spider adopts shallower launch angles which use up more energy, but minimise flight time. For long-range jumps, the spider jumps at angles that minimise the energy consumption. It is remarkable that despite limited visual sensing and control capability the spider can compute and execute highly optimal motion trajectories. The work provides inspiration for a new class of agile micro robots that are currently unthinkable using today\u2019s engineering technologies.<\/p>\n

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