Six-Legged Sprinting Robot 'Lizard' May One Day Roam Mars (Video)

Robots are the future, and now scientists have developed a better way for them to "walk" around their environment. Researchers from Georgia Tech University have created a robot that can run across different types of terrain, using its six limbs to tackle gravel and sand.

Most advanced robots have wheels or treads. Even the Mars Curiosity rover doesn't have legs. Yet while treads and wheels are good for flat surfaces, they're not suited for more difficult terrain covered with loose gravel and large rocks. Because of this, researchers set their minds to developing "legs" for robots to tackle these challenges.

"Legs allow the animal to climb over ledges, spring over hard ground, paddle through soft ground and potentially kick through fluids," said Daniel Goldman of the Georgia Institute of Technology in an interview with Business Insider.

Existing techniques for describing locomotion on surfaces were complex, and usually couldn't take into account the intrusion of legs into a granular surface--think of trying to calculate your foot sinking slightly into sand. In order to increase this understanding, the researchers first used X-rays and other observation techniques in order to study lizards running on sandy surfaces. They then created a theory in order to describe the physics of the way that the animals move.

In order to test their theory, they fist used computer simulations. When those were successful, they tried their theory out for real, building six-legged models which they then tested in a sandbox filled with grains that ranged from poppy seeds to glass beads. They tested a variety of different types of legs, using a 3D printer in order to create the various models.

"As long as the legs are convex, the robot generates large lift and small body drag, and thus can run fast," said Goldman in a press release. "When the limb shape was changed to flat or concave, the performance dropped. This information is important for optimizing the energy efficiency of legged robots."

The robot that the researchers eventually created had six legs and was only about six inches long. Yet it could speed across different types of terrain with ease. The new theory and the robot could herald a new generations of machines.

"Robots of that size could be used in the future for sear-and-rescue missions, or to scout out unknown environments such as the surface of Mars," said Tingnan Zhang, one of the researchers, in a press release. "They could also provide biologists with a better understanding of how animals such as sand lizards run and kangaroo rats hop on granular media."

The findings were published in the journal Science.

Want to see the robot in action? Check out the video below, courtesty of the Georgia Institute of Technology.