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I think it's safe to assume that the researchers have watched hours and hours of footage of cheetahs running - I'm sure they're aware the ways in which their wo
by scott_s 11y ago
I think it's safe to assume that the researchers have watched hours and hours of footage of cheetahs running - I'm sure they're aware the ways in which their work is not like the real thing.
Watching some of the cheetah videos, I wonder how much of their staggering is compensation. That is, the "ideal" cheetah gait may actually be non-staggered. But as the cheetah is changing direction, dealing with slightly uneven ground and reaching out for prey, it may need to stagger its legs in order to compensate.
- vlasev 11y agoWe can't possibly know what the researchers have actually done in their study but I think it's safe to say that symmetrical action is a lot easier to wrap your head around (it essentially becomes a 2D problem). That's why a staggered action should be seen as an improvement to the already existing design. When it comes to cheetahs, I bet a million bucks that it has everything to do with impact and smoothness rather than a compensation for changing direction and such. My confidence in this comes from my own experience imitating animal movement in parkour. For an example of one person running in a staggered way - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8oh5Xuy7NA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8oh5Xuy7NA. Running like that is MUCH easier on the joints than running with a symmetrical action. If you make a human gallop in a symmetrical way they'd quickly give it up for staggered action, regardless of surface or directions.
- scott_s 11y agoYou may be correct, but I wouldn't extrapolate from humans. We evolved to walk upright, so running on all fours is not something our structure will be good at.