# A Review of Self-Righting Techniques for Terrestrial Animals

Marc Davis, Christophe Gouinaud, Jean-Christophe Fauroux, Philippe Vaslin

► To cite this version:

Marc Davis, Christophe Gouinaud, Jean-Christophe Fauroux, Philippe Vaslin. A Review of Self-Righting Techniques for Terrestrial Animals. International Workshop on Bio-inspired Robots, Ecole des Mines de Nantes, Apr 2011, Nantes, France. hal-05010445

HAL Id: hal-05010445

https://uca.hal.science/hal-05010445v1

Submitted on 28 Mar 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# A Review of Self-Righting Techniques for Terrestrial Animals

M. Davis<fnref n="1" />,<fnref n="2" />, C. Gouinaud<fnref n="1" />, J.-C. Fauroux<fnref n="2" />, P. Vaslin<fnref n="1" />

## Abstract

We present a review of literature pertaining to different techniques used by land animals and humans for ensuring appropriate orientation after landing in the event of desired or accidental jumps and falls. It appears that at least five different families of strategies emerge: acquisition of angular momentum prior to leaving the ground, reorientation through limb motion, zero angular momentum twisting, a *posteriori* self-righting, and aerodynamic stabilization. This last family of strategies is particularity suited for robots explicitly meant for flying and is considered out of the scope of this review.

<figure><img src="image_2.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 1a) Cross-country motorcycle performing pitch attitude correction by braking the wheels (Pouzols and Vaslin 2006)</figcaption></figure>

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Fig. 1b) The DASH hexapedal robot after having survived a fall from a large height (Birkmeyer, Peterson, and Fearing 2009)</figcaption></figure>

## 1. Motivation

Vehicles and robots meant for terrestrial operation may be able to maintain a given orientation relative to the horizon while on the surface, but their ability to do so while in mid-air is generally limited compared to that of flying machines. However, for ground robots meant for high-speed movement on uncertain terrain, ballistic phases can occur, and it becomes crucial to provide the robots with self-righting capabilities in order to protect their payload and ensure smooth landing. This is also the case for robots falling from a height regardless of their initial velocity, and for robots voluntarily jumping over an obstacle, or seeking balance from an unstable posture. Terrestrial animals are confronted with the same problems, and have evolved a series of features or behaviors enabling them to recover from a fall.

## 2. Review

In a scenario in which a self-righting maneuver is to be required, from one to four successive phases can be identified, depending on the severity of the destabilization to compensate for. These phases are presented in chronological order.

### 2.1 Acquisition of angular momentum prior to leaving the ground

If an animal is aware that it is about to fall or to enter a ballistic phase, be it voluntarily or not, it can use the last moments of contact with the surface to shape its trajectory and angular velocity by taking support on the ground. Frogs are an example of animal to be particularity adapted for taking advantage of this fact for jumping.

<footnote n="1">¹ Clermont University – Blaise Pascal University (UBP) – LIMOS – B.P. 10448 – 63000 CLERMONT-FERRAND, France</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Clermont University – French Institute for Advanced Mechanics (IFMA) – LaMI – B.P. 10448 – 63000 CLERMONT-FERRAND, France</footnote>
Their long, strongly articulated and muscular hind limbs enable them to control their linear and angular momenta for an extended period of time during take-off, while their strongly compliant hind feet maintain prolonged contact with the ground during that time (Wang et al. 2008). This contact phase is of particular importance in that it the last opportunity to advantageously modify the angular inertial parameters that will remain constant throughout the ballistic phase.

By carefully coordinating limb motion during takeoff, it has been shown that the aerial tumbling performance of gymnasts can be optimized (Mark A. King and Maurice R. Yeadon 2004). King and Yeadon devised a five-segment planar model calibrated to elite gymnasts, and performed various optimizations on the joint torque activation timings, while retaining the approach linear and angular momenta measured during an actual performance. They successfully showed that under these conditions, substantial improvements in tumbling performance could be achieved (19%). Moreover, performance loss caused by variations of the approach linear and angular velocities could be compensated for by performing similar optimizations (M. A. King and M. R. Yeadon 2003).

## 2.2 Reorientation through limb motion

During a ballistic phase, a common means for modifying body orientation is to initiate the angular motion of certain limbs. The conservation of angular momentum dictates that the ratio of angular velocities generated between the thrown limb and the rest of the body will be inversely proportional to the ratio of their moments of inertia. Moreover, performing such a motion while still on the ground increases the effect since the floor reaction forces can amplify the desired movement (Frohlich 1979).

Beyond exploiting the contra-rotation effect generated by displacing limbs, it is possible to initiate twisting motions if the subject is tumbling and has an initial amount of angular momentum. Considering the subject's initial angular momentum vector and inertia tensor, modifying components in the latter by moving limbs necessarily implies a reorientation of the angular momentum vector (Decatoire 2002). This is well known of gymnasts who can throw an arm while tumbling to initiate a twist, then the other arm to terminate the movement. It has been established that if a twisting motion is to be accomplished, the aerial effect described surpasses the contribution of the movement that could be brought by initiating the motion on the ground (M. R. Yeadon 1993).

## 2.3 Zero angular momentum twisting

In the case where a twisting motion is to be initiated even though no initial angular momentum is available, a maneuver sometimes referred to as the “cat twist” can be performed. One method for achieving this maneuver involves two phases : firstly, the moment of inertia of the anterior half of the body is decreased relatively to the posterior half by retracting the front limbs and extending the hind limbs. Then by bending and twisting the spine, the front half of the body would rotate by a relatively greater angle than the opposite rotation of the back half. Secondly, the opposite maneuver would be performed, by extending the front limbs, retracting the back limbs, then twisting (Marey 1894).

Another maneuver for performing a “cat twist” can be described as a single continuous motion without varying the moments of inertia of the anterior and posterior body halves : by bending the two body halves toward one another around what could be schematized by an universal joint, then by twisting the joint, the subject reorients itself without modifying its angular momentum. The front and back body halves rotate with partial angular momentum vectors whose sum results in that of the global rotation of the whole body (Frohlich 1979). Mechanical prototypes demonstrating this schematized description have been demonstrated to be able to complete the maneuver (Galli 1995). In a much similar fashion, geckos have been shown to self-right by orienting their massive tails perpendicularly to their spine, and by swiveling it in a circular trajectory, causing the opposite rotation of their bodies (Jusufi et al. 2008).

## 2.4 A posteriori self-righting

During a landing phase and after at least one limb is in contact with the ground, the subject can attempt to correct its orientation using the renewed support, but may fail. While agile creatures can right themselves easily from any final orientation using their appendages, this is more complicated for others. Some species of beetles (such as *Eucnemidae*) are known to arc their body, storing elastic energy, before explosively releasing it in a jump aimed at self-righting. Others species, such as the *Histeridae*, open their elytra (the hardened protection of their hindwings) into flight position against the ground, then explosively shut them, resulting in a self-righting jump (Frantsevich 2004).
Turtles also have notorious difficulties to self-right if turned upside down. However, certain species, for example *Geochelone elegans*, have evolved shells with a highly domed shape, enabling them to self-right almost passively (Gábor Domokos and Péter L Várkonyi 2008). In fact, strong similarities were observed between the shape of their shells and a particular three-dimensional homogeneous body, the Gömböc, whose property is to have just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium (P. L. Várkonyi and G. Domokos 2006).

### 3. Discussion

It has been shown that terrestrial animals have evolved a number of features and behaviors enabling them to come back to their feet in the event of falls and jumps. When possible, preemptive action is taken on the ground; then, depending on the severity of the ballistic phase, orientation can be recovered through limb motion, or through a full-fledged twisting maneuver. If all else failed, ground-based recovery techniques can be used. The animals living today are the result of billions of years of natural selection, and should be considered as an invaluable source of inspiration for the development of tomorrow's robots and machines.

### 4. References

Birkmeyer, P., K. Peterson, and R. S. Fearing. 2009. DASH: A dynamic 16g hexapedal robot. In *Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2009. IROS 2009. IEEE/RSJ International Conference on*, 2683-2689.

Decatoire, Arnaud. 2002. Analyse tri-dimensionnelle de la gestion des mouvements vrillés en gymnastique. La simulation : vers un outil de formation des entraineurs en activités acrobatiques. Poitiers: Université de Poitiers - Faculté des Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquées, April 25.

Domokos, Gábor, and Péter L Várkonyi. 2008. Geometry and self-righting of turtles. *Proceedings. Biological Sciences / The Royal Society* 275, no. 1630 (January 7): 11-17. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1188.

Frantsevich, Leonid. 2004. Righting kinematics in beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera). *Arthropod Structure & Development* 33, no. 3 (Juillet 1): 221-235. doi:10.1016/j.asd.2004.05.007.

Frohlich, Cliff. 1979. Do springboard divers violate angular momentum conservation? *American Journal of Physics* 47, no. 7: 583. doi:10.1119/1.11759.

Galli, John Ronald. 1995. Angular Momentum Conservation and the Cat Twist. *Physics Teacher* 33, no. 6: 404-07.

Jusufi, Ardian, Daniel I. Goldman, Shai Revzen, and Robert J. Full. 2008. Active tails enhance arboreal acrobatics in geckos. *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences* 105, no. 11 (March 18): 4215-4219. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711944105.

King, M. A., and M. R. Yeadon. 2003. Coping with perturbations to a layout somersault in tumbling. *Journal of Biomechanics* 36, no. 7 (Juillet): 921-927. doi:10.1016/S0021-9290(03)00077-0.

King, Mark A., and Maurice R. Yeadon. 2004. Maximising somersault rotation in tumbling. *Journal of Biomechanics* 37, no. 4 (Avril): 471-477. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2003.09.008.

Marey, E. J. 1894. *Des mouvements que certains animaux exécutent pour retomber sur leurs pieds, lorsqu'ils sont précipités d'un lieu élevé*. Gauthier-Villars.

Pouzols, Virginie, and Philippe Vaslin. 2006. Modélisation des facteurs influençant la trajectoire aérienne du système {pilote + moto} lors d'un saut en moto-cross. Validation expérimentale du modèle.

Várkonyi, P. L., and G. Domokos. 2006. Mono-monostatic bodies: the answer to Arnold's question. *Math. Intelligencer* 28, no. 4: 34-38.

Wang, Meng, Xi-zhe Zang, Ji-zhuang Fan, and Jie Zhao. 2008. Biological Jumping Mechanism Analysis and Modeling for Frog Robot. *Journal of Bionic Engineering* 5, no. 3 (September): 181-188. doi:10.1016/S1672-6529(08)60023-2.

Yeadon, M. R. 1993. The biomechanics of twisting somersaults Part IV: Partitioning performances using the tilt angle. *Journal of Sports Sciences* 11, no. 3: 219-225.