It's a key animal from an evolutionary point of view, it's older than crocodiles and dinosaurs; it's an amphibian. So if you look at the modern salamander, its morphology and body shape is very close to the fossils of the first terrestrial vertebrates. So by studying the modern salamander we have a time window to the ancestors of all terrestrial vertebrates, including humans.

Professor Auke Ijspeert

Categorized in : Science

We're now making an amphibious robot that will have the same swimming and walking properties, but will be a bit more sturdy, here clearly there's a big interest of having a robot that can crawl, go through small spaces, can swim a bit. And if you have a collapsed building; you think there are survivors, you will not send a dog because maybe the building is too dangerous. It may be very interesting to have an amphibious robot that you remote control; see if there are survivors and decide then if it's worth sending a team or not.

Professor Auke Ijspeert

science

By decoding this primitive animal what we hope is to also contribute to the understanding of how mammals, including humans, walk. And therefore understanding input and output relationships of the spinal cord.

Professor Auke Ijspeert

science