Insights on fast cockroaches can help teach robots to walk

Using the example of cockroaches, the Cologne-based zoologist Dr Tom Weihmann and his team were able to show that quickly running insects change their gait at mid-speed. This behaviour has previously only been observed in fast mammals. This change in gait is similar to the way horses change from trop to gallop. The results of the study have now been published in the journal Frontiers in Zoology.