RE: [SeattleRobotics] Re: simulation challenge
- Peter Balch said: Sunday, January 02, 2011 6:45 AM
> The DoD aren't asking for goats, they're askingSorry if this is a repeat, but a true story.
> for mules. Where is it that a mule can
> go that a 4WD quadbike can't?
My wife's Granddad, now passed, used to tell about a guy up on
the mountain, decided to follow Granddad around the mountain
top. He bragged he could go anywhere that horse can go. So
Granddad walked to a ledge on a sheer cliff about a foot wide,
and traversed, while the 4-wheeler just shook his head and
People prefer mules over horses, because their front legs have
better forward freedom. That is, they can step up better than a
horse, keep a narrower stance.
- --- In SeattleRobotics@yahoogroups.com, Larry Geib <LJGeib@...> wrote:
>I believe that was "my" comment, and not Randy's. Looks like
> it was just a reference to this statement of yours:
> " Few besides mountain goats go anywheres
> near the sort of terrain they live in, and they only handle it because of their significant evolutionary adaptations. Horses,
> deer, elk, moose, etc, can't handle the same slopes, despite
> outward similarity in body designs."
the deer do pretty good on steep slopes.
The pictures don't capture the total actions, but it does look
like the ability of the deer to make large jumps was the key.
Aided by its remarkable visual system being able to pre-plot a
Wish I had a robot that could jump 30' vertically, and land
on its feet. OTOH, just going over broken terrain, short of
vertical cliffs, might be a good next goal.
> I think the pictures in the link I gave show that mule deer, at least, have no problem climbing very steep terrain, even cliff areas. They actually rather like steep country. They have the advantage that they are willing to jump up to 8 feet vertically and 20 feet horizontally in the steepest areas. They often jump with all four feet at once.
> I've often seen them grazing or browsing in pretty rocky country and they will retreat onto the rock if threatened. Steep ground doesn't get as covered in snow, either. They can find food more easily there in winter.
> I'll bet elk would surprise you, too.
> On Jan 4, 2011, at 9:52 PM, "Randy M. Dumse" <rmd@...> wrote:
> > Larry Geib said: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 6:04 PM
> >> Randy is ,akin assumptions without basis again.
> > Sorry, you might have to explain what assumption?
> > I didn't get the reference.
> > Randy
> > -----------------------------------