Robot lizard can quickly climb a wall just like the real thing

Those that climb need to be both fast and stable to avoid predation and find food. A robot made to mimic their movements has now shown how the rotation of their legs and the speed with which they move up vertical surfaces helps them climb efficiently. "Most lizards look a lot like other lizards," says Christofer Clemente at University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. To find out why, Clemente and his team built a robot based on a lizard's body plan to explore its efficiency. It is about 24 centimetres long, and its legs and feet were programmed to mimic the gait of climbing lizards.