The flashy biomimetic robots of Festo are more or less glorified technological demos, but that does not mean that they are not cool. Engineering is still something to behold, although these robot bugs will probably not do any serious work. His last units move in imitation of two unusual animals: a tumbling spider and a flying fox (think of a big bat).
The BionicWheelBot, while walking, is not something we had never seen before: hexapodal locomotion has been accomplished by innumerable roboticists – a recent project even attempted to capture the spontaneity of the gait of an insect.
But his next turn is new, at least if you have not watched the prequels of Star Wars. He uses the legs on each side to form a wheel and propels himself with the last pair. Useful for going down or blowing in the wind, as some spiders and insects do.
Looks like it can go pretty fast, and although it seems to me that it would be a solution if it was overturned, it had no problem to fall from the last from the table and roll in the video Festo.
The other robo-creature is the BionicFlyingFox, modeled on the huge bats bearing this name. Like all flying creatures, the emphasis is on lightness and simplicity, allowing this robot (like its distant ancestor, Festo's bird) to fight realistically and stay in control. the air for a while.
Like the strong but light and flexible membrane that forms the wings of flying mammals, the Festo robot uses an elastane-modified material (sort of super-spandex) that is water-resistant. Air and do not bend.
If you're lucky, you might see one of those majestic robeasts demonstrated at a robotics conference someday.