When you see a squirrel jump to a branch, you might think (and I myself thought, up until just now ... goes exactly the way ...

Squirrels are famous for their incredible agility—leaping across gaps, bouncing between branches, and landing with ease. Now, ...

Justin Yim describes the success of a monopedal robot, Salto, in leaping from branch to branch thanks to principles of balance control learned from the study of leaping squirrels. Disclaimer: AAAS ...

A leaping robot could have application in search ... Biologists worked with robot designers to discover how squirrels do it, and used what they learned to design a one-legged robot with the ...

The jumping bot can take ... need many more tweaks to catch up to its bushy-tailed brothers, Yim says. “The robot is definitely not able to do what a squirrel can do just yet.” ...

Bottom photo: A one-legged robot, called Salto, was modified to jump from one branch-like perch to another using principles derived from studies of leaping squirrels. (Image credit: Justin Yim).