There are three main features of goats that contribute to their superior balance: optimal centers of mass (COM), highly flexible joints, and specialized hoof shapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With regards to a goat\u2019s COM, for context, a body with a COM far from the ground is more likely to tip when pushed because larger torques are created about its base (think grabbing the end of a wrench). If the COM is closer to the ground, that torque is lessened, making it harder to tip. According to Tian and Zhang\u2019s<\/a> research published in Biomimetics<\/em>, a goat\u2019s center of mass is located close to its forelimbs and is low to the ground. As the goat walks up a mountain its forward shifted center of mass causes a forward lean, preventing it from falling backwards without extra exerted energy. Most current prosthetics are developed to walk on flat surfaces, but by creating prosthetics or legs with a forward tilt and low COM, new designs can prevent tipping when walking on slopes and decrease actuation power requirements.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n Researchers also found that goat\u2019s joints work together to allow the hoof to adjust pitch, roll, and yaw. If you are unfamiliar with these terms, think of moving your foot up and down (pitch), side to side (roll) and twisting (yaw). As studied by Adab and Herzig<\/a> during their efforts to create a robotic goat leg, they found that a goat\u2019s joints allow for a large range of motion and work together in a specialized way to allow for more minute hoof adjustments. This makes the goat hoof act similar to an anti-brake system in a car – like how pumping brakes gives your tires more traction, a goat\u2019s slight change in hoof positioning does the same, preventing any sudden shifts in weight. The benefit of a goat hoof doesn\u2019t stop there! Qun Zhang<\/a> of Beihang University has looked into how the mechanisms of a hoof can apply to robotic design and described how the two separate digits on a hoof make a V-shape that can passively move and grab onto objects on the ground, acting like an anchor. New robotic and prosthetic designs that have similar joint movements and hoof shape can have increased flexibility which can prevent loss of traction on uneven terrains as compared to using a flat-footed design with more fixed joint movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Labeled](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/biomechanics-in-the-wild\/files\/2024\/11\/Screenshot-2024-11-06-025312-1.png\")