Creeping Crawling Caterpillars

It's likely one day there will be robots crawling around that look a lot like caterpillars! With funding from the National Science Foundation, Tufts Biology Professor Barry Trimmer is researching the neuromechanics of caterpillars, which involves observing how caterpillars crawl on very high tech force beam systems. Trimmer and his team study the caterpillars' climbing behavior - motion tracking and muscle physiology. The applications for this research include the development of soft-bodied robots for use in medicine, environmental safety, industry, defense, etc...