Copying Mother Nature

Biomimicry is a method of designing that uses examples from nature to inspire engineering. By watching how animals and plants live, designers can often find exciting ways of creating new inventions. Some students at the University of California used biomimicry to prototype a robot that can jump really high. They looked at the galago - a mouse-like animal - as their model. This tiny primate lives all across Africa and is known for its powerful jumps. The galago crouches down very low and then springs to about three feet (1m) in height! This new robot, called SALTO, crouches down and then leaps, just like the galago! Other robots have been invented to jump, but none are as light-weight and can jump as quickly as SALTO.

The inventors of SALTO are designing the next prototype so that this very small robot can run, leap, and climb through rubble - like when a building falls down - so that the robot can help search for people who need help. Then it will send a notification to human rescuers who will be able to come to help.

Click the image below to learn more about SALTO!

What would you design to rescue people? Show us your ideas in the design section!