Basilisk Lizard Bipedal Locomotion on Sand, Mud, and Water: An Insight to Future Morphing Amphibious Robots

With the astonishing development in robotics, one area that still remains an open challenge is their physical interaction with the outside world, beyond that of factory floors. In order for robotic devices to integrate and conquer obstacles introduced by the surrounding world, they will need to be able to traverse on and through diverse and alternating mediums and terrains. To address this desire of adaptive multi-modal locomotion, we look to the basilisk lizard as a form of inspiration and means of understanding how it can effectively run and transition from land to water, and vice versa. By shedding light on both active (i.e. gait, body dynamics) and passive (i.e. tail swing, toe fringes) mechanisms used by the animal, more competent robotic systems can be developed for the interaction and exploration of both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Notably, passive mechanisms do not require input power, sensing, or controls for operation. Through conducting animal experiments in both terrestrial and aquatic environments (and the transition between the two), the hierarchical physics of animal interaction with complex environments can be extracted and channeled towards the development of a bio-inspired amphibious robot for planetary exploration and search-and-rescue applications.