Robots like Boston Dynamics’ Spot and Cheetah exhibit impressive agility, but their movements largely rely on advanced leg mechanics rather than a biomimetic spine. In a groundbreaking development, a collaborative research team from Germany and China has introduced NeRmo, a four-legged robot inspired by rodents, designed to emphasize the importance of a functional spine in achieving precise maneuverability.

In appearance, NeRmo mirrors a mouse’s skeletal structure, featuring a rigid front half housing electronics and a flexible spine with four lumbar and lateral joints in the latter half. The robot’s unique motor-tendon framework draws inspiration from rodent anatomy, introducing artificial tendons that thread through the spine, elbow, and knee joints.

The Technical University of Munich, University of Technology Nuremberg, and China’s Sun Yat-Sen University collaborated on NeRmo’s development. The robot’s tendon-pulley system eliminates the need for musculature while providing smooth flexion capabilities across lateral and sagittal planes (side-to-side and up-and-down movements).

Through a series of experiments focusing on static balancing, straight-line walking, agile turning, and maze navigation, NeRmo showcased its capabilities. In each trial, the robot performed better, faster, and more accurately when engaging its spinal system. Maze navigation emerged as a highlight, with NeRmo completing labyrinth runs an average of 30 percent faster than without spinal support.

While still in the early stages, researchers believe that refining the design and integrating spinal systems into future quadruped robots could significantly enhance their functionality. NeRmo’s success underscores the potential impact, especially when considering MIT’s Cheetah, which achieves remarkable speed with just one actuated joint mimicking spinal flexion in the sagittal plane, whereas NeRmo boasts eight joints, promising exciting possibilities for the future of agile and spine-centric robotic movement.

By Impact Lab