Necrobotics: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 16:06, 8 January 2024

Revision as of 22:04, 13 February 2024

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== Background ==

The main appeal of the spider's body in necrobotics is its compact leg mechanism and use of hydraulic pressure.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |title=Spider anatomy |date=2023-07-20 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Spider_anatomy&oldid=1166225476 |work=Wikipedia |access-date=2023-10-19 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Leg Uses Hydraulics and Muscle Flex — Biological Strategy — AskNature |url=https://asknature.org/strategy/leg-uses-hydraulics-and-muscle-flex/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=asknature.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The spider's anatomy utilizes a simple [[Hydraulics|hydraulic]] (fluid) pressure system. Spider legs have flexor muscles that naturally constrict their legs when relaxed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Yap |first1=Te Faye |last2=Liu |first2=Zhen |last3=Rajappan |first3=Anoop |last4=Shimokusu |first4=Trevor J. |last5=Preston |first5=Daniel J. |date=October 2022 |title=Necrobotics: Biotic Materials as Ready‐to‐UseReady-to-Use Actuators |journal=Advanced Science |language=en |volume=9 |issue=29 |pages=e2201174 |doi=10.1002/advs.202201174 |issn=2198-3844 |pmc=9561765 |pmid=35875913}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> A force is required to straighten and extend their legs, which spiders accomplish by pumping hemolymph fluid (blood) through their joints as a means of hydraulic pressure.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /> It takes no external power to curl their legs due to their flexor muscles' natural curled state.<ref name=":0" />

In July 2022, researchers in the Preston Innovation Lab at Rice University published a paper detailing their experiments with the gripper. Although dead spiders no longer produce hemolymph, Te Faye Yap (lead author and mechanical engineering graduate) found that pumping air through a needle into the spider's [[Spider anatomy|cephalothorax]] accomplishes the same results as hemolymph.<ref name=":0" /> The original hydraulic (fluid) system is essentially converted into a pneumatic (air) system.