a new robot that moves just like a salamander has been created by engineers the robot, called pleurobot, walks and swims in a life like way that mimics the shy amphibious creatures it was developed by recording 3d x ray videos of short ribbed salamanders   europe's largest salamander   allowing researchers to track 64 points on the animal skeleton scroll down for video  the robot, called pleurobot, (pictured) walks and swims in a life like way that mimics the shy amphibious creatures it was developed by recording 3d x ray videos of short ribbed salamanders   europe's largest salamander   allowing researchers to track 64 points on the animal skeleton  scientists behind the robot, which has 27 movable joints, believe it could be used to help palaeontolgists understand how extinct animals like the dinosaurs moved a video released by google's boston dynamics sparked complaints after an engineer kicked one of its dog like robots to show off its ability to remain upright viewers said the robot had been mistreated and claimed the employees were being cruel it sparked a debate about whether it was possible to be cruel to a robot ethicists and robotics experts waded into the argument to explain the only way it could be unethical would be if the robot could feel pain others pointed out it is impossible for robots to have feelings they say as it is able to cope with a range of different terrain and squeeze through relatively small spaces, the robot could also be used to help search for people trapped in disaster zones and they added that the robots highly flexible spine also allows it to swim in water, but only if it is given a waterproof skin professor auke jan ijspeert, a researcher at the biorobotics laboratory at the swiss federal institute of technology in lausanne (efpl), has been leading the development of the robot according to the group's website: 'because of its low centre of mass and segmented legs it can navigate over rough terrain without losing balance 'with a waterproof skin it can also swim 'those features may one day enable pleurobot to help in search and rescue operations 'on the other hand, salamanders are a good living analog for the first tetrapods that made the transition from water to land 'in the future, we plan to use pleurobot's design methodology to bring early tetrapods to 'life'' its engineers say that because it is able to cope with a range of different terrain and squeeze through relatively small spaces, the robot (pictured) could be used to help search for people trapped in disaster zones  salamanders are remarkable creatures capable of regenerating limbs and researchers at university college london (ucl) recently identified the biological pathway involved called erk (extracellular signal regulated kinases), the pathway must be constantly active for salamander cells to regenerate   a process not seen in the same way in other mammals although a long way from achieving the same feat in humans, the discovery could help researchers unlock the ‘regenerative potential’ of cells across other animals scientists behind the robot, which has 27 movable joints, believe it could be used to help palaeontolgists understand how extinct animals like the dinosaurs moved a short ribbed salamander is pictured 
pleurobot
engineers studied how sharp ribbed salamanders move using x ray videos  they released video showing the robot moving in a remarkably lifelike way  the robotic salamander is able to walk and swim just like the real creature  called pleurobot, it has 27 joints capable of moving independently  it could be used to help study how extinct creatures like dinosaurs moved  the robot could also be used to access difficult terrain in disaster zones 