Opportunity Details

Details about the opportunity you selected and the mentor are shown below. It is your responsibility to contact the mentor to discuss collaborating with them this summer. If your mentor invites you to submit an application, you can access that from the front page of this site. Upon completion of the application, it will be sent to the mentor for approval before being passed on to the Summer Scholar Selection Committee, which will make the decisions.

Faculty Information

Gary Leisk

Gary.Leisk@tufts.edu

Sr. Lect./Res. Asst. Prof.

P: (617) 627-2547

Address:

Dept. Mech. Engg
Anderson Hall - 022A
200 College Ave.

Medford, MA 02155

Affiliated Institutions:

Engineering

Opportunity:

Engineering a Biomimetic Snail

Summary:

The field of robotics has been heavily influenced by biomimetics in recent years. In simple terms, biomimetics seeks to translate natural adaptive strategies into engineering designs. The goal of this research is to develop a robot whose movement is influenced by the locomotion strategy used by snails and slugs. A snail uses propagating waves of muscle contractions in a single foot to move over difficult terrain, including vertical surfaces and overhanging structures. The ultimate outcome of this research would be to create a robot that would be able to propel its way up walls and along ceilings and be able to transition between various types of terrain.

Contact Via:

E-mail

What is the timeframe for this research opportunity?

June-August

Prerequisities for students?

Basic engineering knowledge, CAD experience, hands-on fabrication skills

Responsibilities for students?

research into snail/slug motion & physiology, rigorous testing of candidate actuation and wall attachment strategies, detail design of prototype robots

Area(s) of Research:

Robotics

Design

Engineering

Computer modeling