Meeting Abstract
The cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus) is not only the fastest animal on earth but also the most maneuverable. Naturally, an investigation into the whole-body motion dynamics of this specialized predator will illuminate the various factors which influence and affect performance in legged animals as well as provide insight for the design of future bio-inspired robots. Presently, animal sensor collars can successfully capture the gross animal behavior, but do not provide information about the animal’s whole body motion. Here, we demonstrate the use of animal mounted cameras, as well as a wireless Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) network which are attached to captive cheetahs during maneuvers. The various sensors are fused by a Kalman Smoothing Filter to provide high-bandwidth state estimates of the position and velocity of the cheetah tail and spine. We believe this novel motion capture system will enable high fidelity state estimates on wild animals for future studies.
