NCIE
NCIE
Dead spiders as robot gripping claws
Mammals move their limbs by stretching and contracting their muscles. In contrast, spiders move their limbs using hydraulic pressure. More specifically, they have a special chamber located near their head that sends blood to their legs when the limb contracts. When the pressure drops, the legs return to their original position.
Professor Daniel Preston and graduate student Fei Yap of Texas Rice University set out to see if they could manually induce such movements in dead wolf spiders. The scientists named the area of research necrobotics.
The process begins with the euthanasia of the spider, after which a needle is inserted into its prosomal chamber. Then a drop of glue is added to the insertion site to keep the needle in place.
With the help of a syringe attached to this needle, a small amount of air is supplied into the chamber, as a result, the legs begin to move.
In tests, the spiders were able to lift over 130% of their own body weight.
