Animal and Insect Robots That Behave Like the Real Things

Biomimicry is a practice of learning from and mimicking the strategies found in nature to solve design challenges faced by humans, according to the Biomimicry Institute. One notable field where biomimicry is utilized is the design of robots.

Roboticists often look to nature to create and design their robots. This results in robots that behave and even look just like animals and insects. Why do this? Because nature holds many answers to robotics questions such as how can this robot be made more efficient?

In this video, we bring you several robots inspired by nature that perfectly imitate the animals and insects they are based on. We dare you to watch and not be impressed by how realistic they are.

For instance, Festo — BionicANTs mimic the intelligence of real ants by communicating and coordinating their movements and working together to achieve a common goal. Meanwhile, the Eelume Marine Robot is a robotic eel that stays underwater for 6 months in order to perform subsea inspections, maintenance, and repairs. The Humming Bird Robot is an AI-trained robotic hummingbird that’s capable of hovering and tracking trajectories.

Have these super-efficient robots piqued your curiosity yet? Then watch the video to see plenty more animal and insect-inspired bots.