Related papers: How far can Tarzan jump?

In this paper, we present a novel rolling, jumping robot. The robot consists of a driven pendulum mounted to a wheel in a compact, lightweight, 3D printed design. We show that by driving the pendulum to shift the robot's weight…

In this paper, we focus on the kangaroo, which has powerful legs capable of jumping and a soft and strong tail. To incorporate these unique structure into a robot for utilization, we propose a design method that takes into account both the…

When a falling ball chain strikes a surface, a tension is created that pulls the chain downward. This causes a downward acceleration that is larger than free-fall, which has been observed by recent experiments. Here a theoretical…

The problem of determining the angle at which a point mass launched from ground level with a given speed is a standard exercise in mechanics. Similar, yet conceptually and calculationally more difficult problems have been suggested to…

Snakes can move through almost any terrain. Similarly, snake robots hold the promise as a versatile platform to traverse complex environments like earthquake rubble. Unlike snake locomotion on flat surfaces which is inherently stable, when…

When the laws of Physics are taken seriously, the sports can benefit in getting better results, as was the case of the high jump in Flop style, so that the athlete sprints diagonally towards the bar,then curve and leap backwards over it.…

We investigate theoretically the ballistic motion of small legged insects and legless larvae after a jump. Notwithstanding their completely different morphologies and jumping strategies, these legged and legless animals have convergently…

A toroidal trap combined with external time-dependent electric field can be used for implementing different dynamical regimes of matter waves. In particular, we show that dynamical and stochastic acceleration, localization and…

A freely falling chain from a cup at certain height can jump. The process can be divided into two parts: a stable suspension and an accelerating procedure. Variational principle and force analysis demonstrate that the shape of stable…

The problem of a suspended rope wrapped around a fixed cylinder is studied. If the suspension force is larger than a certain threshold (which is larger than the weight of the rope), the rope would remain tightly wrapped around the cylinder.…

Optimum projection angles for achieving maximum horizontal range in throwing and jumping events are considerably less than 45 degrees. This unexpected result arise because an athlete can generate a greater projection velocity at low…

Snakes can move through almost any terrain. Although their locomotion on flat surfaces using planar gaits is inherently stable, when snakes deform their body out of plane to traverse complex terrain, maintaining stability becomes a…

Models of a playground swing have been studied since the 1960s. However, in most of them, the position of the swinger is controlled directly. This simplifies the problem but hides the mechanics of torques applied to keep the swing moving in…

We present a new model, and the validating experiments, that unveil the rich physics behind the flight of a conductive ring in the Thomson experiment, a physics veiled by the fast thrust that impels the ring. We uncover interesting features…

Rotation distance between trees measures the number of simple operations it takes to transform one tree into another. There are no known polynomial-time algorithms for computing rotation distance. In the case of ordered rooted trees, we…

The chain fountain is an entertaining, counter-intuitive phenomenon. When a chain flows up over the edge of a container and then falls to the ground below, it is observed that the top of the chain rises up above the containers edge. Here…

New measurements are presented of the lift on a spinning baseball. The experiment utilizes a pitching machine to project the baseball horizontally; a high-speed motion capture system to measure the initial velocity and angular velocity and…

Given the recent tragedy involving a 350 pound Siberian Tiger and the death of teenager Carlos Souza Jr., one must ask a fundamental question: Can a tiger overcome an obstacle that is thirty-three feet away and twelve and a half feet tall?…

Snake moves across various terrains by bending its elongated body. Recent studies discovered that snakes can use vertical bending to traverse terrain of large height variation, such as horizontally oriented cylinders, a wedge (Jurestovsky,…

Protecting and restoring forest ecosystems has become an important conservation issue. Although various robots have been used for field data collection to protect forest ecosystems, the complex terrain and dense canopy make the data…