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It’s interesting we never see birds or insects doing this hybrid walking flying locomotion. Perhaps some species of dinos did it. Update: An ask Jeeves search

It’s interesting we never see birds or insects doing this hybrid walking flying locomotion. Perhaps some species of dinos did it. Update: An ask Jeeves search suggests ostriches use their wings for balance but I couldn’t find any videos. Can anyone find such a thing? Perhaps it’s misinformation.

trhway 5y ago
wild turkeys can really fly-jump high - for the night they fly up to the 30 feet high branches. Looks very impressive. The robot in the OP is very inefficient for most of the practical tasks except where such mixed capabilities outweigh the inefficiencies, ie. like some military applications.
ericbarrett 5y ago
North American quail do exactly this. They don't fly for long distances; maybe 50m max, or a hop out of danger or over an obstacle. Most of the time they walk, and they have ground nests.
- pacaro 5y ago
  Jungle fowl (from which we get chickens) can't fly long distances, they can only fly in bursts to escape predators, get to a roosting site etc. A jungle is a good example for this, a larger, ground based animal that can boost jump (for all intents and purposes) to get out of trouble, but doesn't need to fly through dense foliage where it would be tricky for a larger animal.
clairity 5y ago
> “It’s interesting we never see birds or insects doing this hybrid walking flying locomotion.” it’s energetically too expensive for basically no benefit (in daily life), so that’s why it’s limited to escape situations where the mortal danger outweighs energetic cost. this robot is also impractical beyond its research value for the same reason, too energetically costly. it’s too energetically costly because it’s constantly actively actuated, with two different sets of locomotors needing coordination on top of that, to achieve dynamic stability. animals rely on passive dynamic stability (akin to springs and dampers) to conserve energy and extend actuation time/efficiency (due to evolutionary pressure).
otras 5y ago
The closest hybrid to me seems to be wing assisted climbing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing-assisted_incline_running https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing-assisted_incline_runnin... It’s as if Leonardo had to climb up a ramp and used some of the generated propeller lift to reduce the force required from the legs.
bserge 5y ago
Hens, ducks, geese, pigeons all use their wings for various movements. City pigeons might evolve into penguin-like birds. Lazy bastards don't even get out of your way these days.
cheese_goddess 5y ago
Chickens sure use their wings for short bursts of speed and even to jump over obstacles or onto trees etc. Scare a hen sufficiently and it will fly a few feet away. Like littlte caricature dragons though they're too plump and their wings too small to really fly. They kind of fly-run instead.
- imtringued 5y ago
  Chicken can fly but their thrust to weight ratio is terrible because want them to have more meat on their bones.
choo-t 5y ago
Roadrunner mostly walk and run, but can fly/glide when needed (going over an obstacle or escaping a predator).

trhway 5y ago

wild turkeys can really fly-jump high - for the night they fly up to the 30 feet high branches. Looks very impressive. The robot in the OP is very inefficient for most of the practical tasks except where such mixed capabilities outweigh the inefficiencies, ie. like some military applications.

ericbarrett 5y ago

North American quail do exactly this. They don't fly for long distances; maybe 50m max, or a hop out of danger or over an obstacle. Most of the time they walk, and they have ground nests.

pacaro 5y ago
Jungle fowl (from which we get chickens) can't fly long distances, they can only fly in bursts to escape predators, get to a roosting site etc. A jungle is a good example for this, a larger, ground based animal that can boost jump (for all intents and purposes) to get out of trouble, but doesn't need to fly through dense foliage where it would be tricky for a larger animal.

clairity 5y ago

> “It’s interesting we never see birds or insects doing this hybrid walking flying locomotion.” it’s energetically too expensive for basically no benefit (in daily life), so that’s why it’s limited to escape situations where the mortal danger outweighs energetic cost. this robot is also impractical beyond its research value for the same reason, too energetically costly. it’s too energetically costly because it’s constantly actively actuated, with two different sets of locomotors needing coordination on top of that, to achieve dynamic stability. animals rely on passive dynamic stability (akin to springs and dampers) to conserve energy and extend actuation time/efficiency (due to evolutionary pressure).

otras 5y ago

The closest hybrid to me seems to be wing assisted climbing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing-assisted_incline_running https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing-assisted_incline_runnin... It’s as if Leonardo had to climb up a ramp and used some of the generated propeller lift to reduce the force required from the legs.

bserge 5y ago

Hens, ducks, geese, pigeons all use their wings for various movements. City pigeons might evolve into penguin-like birds. Lazy bastards don't even get out of your way these days.

cheese_goddess 5y ago

Chickens sure use their wings for short bursts of speed and even to jump over obstacles or onto trees etc. Scare a hen sufficiently and it will fly a few feet away. Like littlte caricature dragons though they're too plump and their wings too small to really fly. They kind of fly-run instead.

imtringued 5y ago
Chicken can fly but their thrust to weight ratio is terrible because want them to have more meat on their bones.

choo-t 5y ago

Roadrunner mostly walk and run, but can fly/glide when needed (going over an obstacle or escaping a predator).