Projects and Movies

This robot has a variable leg sprawl angle in the transverse plane to adapt its stiffness, 

height, and leg-to-surface contact angle. This robot is designed to slide in order to 

reduce contact forces with the ground. Contact angle and normal contact forces are 

substantially reduced when the sprawl angle is low, and the velocity increases over 

smooth surfaces, with stable running at all velocities up to 5.2 m/s (Oct. 2012). Due to 

its passive stability STAR does not need to be run in alternating tripods and can be 

steered without becoming unstable. Zarrouk et al. IEEE ICRA 2013.

Inchworm and earthworm robot actuated using a single motor PDF movieThese worm robots are some of the fastest worm robots that exist (5cm/s) and the most efficient ones 

in terms of energy requirements. They use a single motor and the inchworm can climb vertically an 

estimated 300 meters using 4 off the shelf  AAA battery. We designed a larger and smaller version of

 both the earthworm and inchworm. Zarrouk et al. ASME JMD 2012.