Do you ever wonder…
How do animals move in the real world?
Why and how do animals move arrhythmically?
How do we design robots for the real world?
EMBiR lab is searching for the answers.
Robots for Biology
To understand how a trait helps an animal survive in its daily life, researchers often alter that trait and observe the consequences. Complex traits, such as locomotion or behavior, are difficult to alter in live organisms. Therefore, we design bio-inspired robots for animal-robot interaction experiments to test evolutionary and ecological hypotheses.
Biology for Robots
Robots are often designed and tested in predictable environments, based on studies of animals moving in predictable environments. However, the outside world is an unpredictable place where animals must turn, jump, and hide to survive. We build tools to improve robot performance in complex environments by examining animal motion in the real world.
If you are a current UM Undergrad or Master’s student interested in doing an independent research study in our lab, please fill out this form and we will be in contact when a position opens up.