Dataset Information

Inertial Tail Effects during Righting of Squirrels in Unexpected Falls: From Behavior to Robotics.

ABSTRACT: Arboreal mammals navigate a highly three dimensional and discontinuous habitat. Among arboreal mammals, squirrels demonstrate impressive agility. In a recent "viral" YouTube video, unsuspecting squirrels were mechanically catapulted off of a track, inducing an initially uncontrolled rotation of the body. Interestingly, they skillfully stabilized themselves using tail motion, which ultimately allowed the squirrels to land successfully. Here we analyze the mechanism by which the squirrels recover from large body angular rates. We analyzed from the video that squirrels first use their tail to help stabilizing their head to visually fix a landing site. Then the tail starts to rotate to help stabilizing the body, preparing themselves for landing. To analyze further the mechanism of this tail use during mid-air, we built a multibody squirrel model and showed the righting strategy based on body inertia moment changes and active angular momentum transfer between axes. To validate the hypothesized strategy, we made a squirrel-like robot and demonstrated a fall-stabilizing experiment. Our results demonstrate that a squirrel's long tail, despite comprising just 3% of body mass, can inertially stabilize a rapidly rotating body. This research contributes to better understanding the importance of long tails for righting mechanisms in animals living in complex environments such as trees.

SUBMITTER: Fukushima T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8427179 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Inertial Tail Effects during Righting of Squirrels in Unexpected Falls: From Behavior to Robotics.

Fukushima Toshihiko T Siddall Robert R Schwab Fabian F Toussaint Séverine L D SLD Byrnes Greg G Nyakatura John A JA Jusufi Ardian A

Integrative and comparative biology 20210901 2

Arboreal mammals navigate a highly three dimensional and discontinuous habitat. Among arboreal mammals, squirrels demonstrate impressive agility. In a recent "viral" YouTube video, unsuspecting squirrels were mechanically catapulted off of a track, inducing an initially uncontrolled rotation of the body. Interestingly, they skillfully stabilized themselves using tail motion, which ultimately allowed the squirrels to land successfully. Here we analyze the mechanism by which the squirrels recover ...[more]

PMID: 33930150

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Project description:Introduction: Patients who are hospitalized may be at a higher risk for falling, which can result in additional injuries, longer hospitalizations, and extra cost for healthcare organizations. A frequent context for these falls is when a hospitalized patient needs to use the bathroom. While it is possible that "high-tech" tools like robots and AI applications can help, adopting a human-centered approach and engaging users and other affected stakeholders in the design process can help to maximize benefits and avoid unintended consequences. Methods: Here, we detail our findings from a human-centered design research effort to investigate how the process of toileting a patient can be ameliorated through the application of advanced tools like robots and AI. We engaged healthcare professionals in interviews, focus groups, and a co-creation session in order to recognize common barriers in the toileting process and find opportunities for improvement. Results: In our conversations with participants, who were primarily nurses, we learned that toileting is more than a nuisance for technology to remove through automation. Nurses seem keenly aware and responsive to the physical and emotional pains experienced by patients during the toileting process, and did not see technology as a feasible or welcomed substitute. Instead, nurses wanted tools which supported them in providing this care to their patients. Participants envisioned tools which helped them anticipate and understand patient toileting assistance needs so they could plan to assist at convenient times during their existing workflows. Participants also expressed favorability towards mechanical assistive features which were incorporated into existing equipment to ensure ubiquitous availability when needed without adding additional mass to an already cramped and awkward environment. Discussion: We discovered that the act of toileting served more than one function, and can be viewed as a valuable touchpoint in which nurses can assess, support, and encourage their patients to engage in their own recovery process as they perform a necessary and normal function of life. While we found opportunities for technology to make the process safer and less burdensome for patients and clinical staff alike, we believe that designers should preserve and enhance the therapeutic elements of the nurse-patient interaction rather than eliminate it through automation.

Dataset Information

Inertial Tail Effects during Righting of Squirrels in Unexpected Falls: From Behavior to Robotics.

Publications

Inertial Tail Effects during Righting of Squirrels in Unexpected Falls: From Behavior to Robotics.

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