Scientists filmed and studied the paces of three-legged dogs in a bid to develop robot-building strategies. The researchers are eager to discover hoew the dogs compensate for the loss limb. They are hopeful to ultimately develop robots that could also compensate similarly.

They presented their study at the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Meeting in Prague, Czech Republic. Martin Gross led the study. He is from the University of Jena in Germany.

In the study, the scientists filmed the dogs as they ran on treadmills. They took the shots from several angles with high speed cameras. Dogs that had lost either a fore-limb or a hind-limb because of an accident or injury ran on a treadmill for two minutes.

They used a set of 10 high-speed infrared cameras in filming the dogs. They placed several reflective markers on the dog’s skin and it allowed them to trace the movement of the different parts of the animals’ bodies.

According to Martin Gross, at the end of the study they are hopeful to make some robots that will be efficient in unknown environments. This is because in some instances, something could happen to robots whereby they could also lose a limb.

Dr Gross and his team have already developed some small, quadrupedal robots, and this study enables them to develop ways for their robots to manage if they are injured.