Adaptive leg placement strategies in the fruit fly set an example for six-legged walking systems

Poster. Leg placement of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster was studied under various visual conditions while walking on a square-wave like linear array of narrow “stepping stones”. Three-dimensional high speed video analysis revealed elaborate and error tolerant trajectories of the different legs which depend only to a minor extent on visual influences. Flies do not endeavor to place their legs always on the top surfaces of the treads but equally often cling to the edges or to the side surfaces of the stepping stones. A successful fly-like walking robot would rely on visual influences only for far-field orientation but would exploit a rich mechanosensation at its lower extremities and the ability to attach its legs to various surfaces. Technical solutions for these requirements are currently investigated using a single-leg test stand and a six-legged robot