Other Methods of Locomotion.

Flying:

A modern passenger airliner is essentially a flying robot, with two humans to attend it. The autopilot can control the plane for each stage of the journey, including takeoff, normal flight and even landing. Other flying robots are completely automated, and are known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). They can be smaller and lighter without a human pilot, and fly into dangerous territory for military surveillance missions. Some can even fire on targets under command. UAVs are also being developed which can fire on targets automatically, without the need for a command from a human. Other flying robots include cruise missiles, the Entomopter and the Epson micro helicopter robot.

Snake:

Several snake robots have been successfully developed. Mimicking the way real snakes move, these robots can navigate very confined spaces, meaning they may one day be used to search for people trapped in collapsed buildings. The Japanese ACM-R5 snake robot [35] can even navigate both on land and in water.

Skating:

A small number of skating robots have been developed, one of which is a multi-mode walking and skating device, Titan VIII. It has four legs, with unpowered wheels, which can either step or roll. Another robot, Plen, can use a miniature skateboard or rollerskates, and skate across a desktop.

Swimming:

It is calculated that some fish can achieve a propulsive efficiency greater than 90%. Furthermore, they can accelerate and manoeuver far better than any man-made boat or submarine, and produce less noise and water disturbance. Therefore, many researchers studying underwater robots would like to copy this type of locomotion. Notable examples are the Essex University Computer Science Robotic Fish, and the Robot Tuna built by the Institute of Field Robotics, to analyse and mathematically model thunniform motion.