As the transition from water to land is the most significant event in the history of life on the Earth, a group of researchers at the University of Cambridge are eyeing paleoinspired robots to explore the biology of ancient organisms and their complex nature of evolutionary dynamics.
While assembling a bio-inspired robot, roboticists take cues from living organisms to deliver a similar task. This approach allows scientists to test variations in specific morphological features. In a study published in Science Robotics, researchers have proposed paleo-inspired robotics—a research paradigm that combines the bio-inspired robotics framework with the study of evolutionary trajectories.
Unlike bio-inspired robotics, which merely focuses on replicating certain features of an animal, paleo-inspired robotics aspires to investigate the consequences of anatomical changes on kinematics and biomechanics. Researchers have asserted that comparing bio-inspired robots and paleo-inspired robots can facilitate the study of evolution.
The transition from water to land is presumed to have happened around 400 million years ago during the Devonian period. However, the exact manner of the shift from swimming to walking is unclear. This is where paleo-inspired robotics can help to showcase the locomotion during transitions between different media.
“Since fossil evidence is limited, we have an incomplete picture of how ancient life made the transition to land. Paleontologists examine ancient fossils for clues about the structure of hip and pelvic joints, but there are limits to what we can learn from fossils alone. That’s where robots can come in, helping us fill gaps in the research, particularly when studying major shifts in how vertebrates moved,” said lead author Dr Michael Ishida.
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Using the data collected from the fossils, the researchers are developing paleo-inspired robotic skeletons of ancient fish that mimic the muscles and ligaments. Moreover, they are planning to embed the morphology of modern-day walking fish like mudskippers. Once the prototype is ready, researchers could offer more insights into how the ancient creatures might’ve walked.
“In the lab, we can’t make a living fish walk differently, and we certainly can’t get a fossil to move, so we’re using robots to simulate their anatomy and behavior. We want to know things like how much energy different walking patterns would have required, or which movements were most efficient. This data can help confirm or challenge existing theories about how these early animals evolved,” said Ishida.
However, the partial entry of the fossil structure hinders the comprehensive development of the data. Therefore, the researchers have to rely on their intelligent guesses to reconstruct their full range of movement. Therefore, the movement of these paleo-inspired robots can confirm the speculations.
“In some cases, we’re just guessing how certain bones connected or functioned. That’s why robots are so useful—they help us confirm these guesses and provide new evidence to support or rebut them,” said Ishida.
The team is still in the early stages of development and hopes for complete results in the next year. The positive delivery of this simulation could be a breakthrough in the study of evolution, stimulating more collaboration between engineers and researchers.
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Journal Reference
- Ishida, M., Berio, F., Santo, V. D., Shubin, N. H., & Iida, F. (2024). Paleo-inspired robotics as an experimental approach to the history of life. Science Robotics. DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.adn1125
