Using robotics to understand cheetahs

Abstract

Where is the best place in the world to develop biology-inspired robots? In an ideal world, it would be difficult to argue against sub-Saharan Africa, a region populated by an unmatched abundance of possible muses exemplifying nature at its fastest, strongest, and most innovative. Among these is the cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) – the current holder of nature’s land speed record and muse-in-chief for many legged robotics researchers.

In the real world, African institutions inevitably face resource constraints that drastically inhibit their participation in the robotics community, but despite these challenges, proximity to the cheetah has proved to be a strong enough foundation to support an internationally relevant robotics research laboratory. In this retrospective, we review roughly a decade of cheetah-related research by the African Robotics Unit (ARU) at the University of Cape Town. Taking advantage of our access to this animal has allowed us to establish a unique niche for ourselves within the fields of robotics and biomechanics and to benefit the local community in the process.

Paper

From Dima to Kemba: Ten years of cheetah-inspired research at the African robotics unit (2023)

How to cite: Shield, S. and Patel, A.: From Dima to Kemba: Ten years of cheetah-inspired research at the African robotics unit, Scientific African, Volume 20, 2023, e01640, ISSN 2468-2276, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2023.e01640.