Frog Cyborg That Exhibits Vertical Jumping by Snap-through Buckling

We intend to develop a frog cyborg that can jump vertically by exploiting the snap-through buckling mechanism of the trunk structure. We focused on the exceptional vertical jumping motion of Rana tagoi. We confirmed that the snap-through buckling mechanism occurred during vertical jumping but not during horizontal jumping. The snap-through buckling mechanism was confirmed biomechanically using a dissected frog. We developed a frog cyborg that is controlled by driving the leg and the trunk joints by electrical stimulations. As a result of experiments, we confirmed that the frog cyborg can jump vertically by simultaneously activating the leg muscles and the trunk muscles.