By: Victoria Osaji, Manufacturing and Development Engineer

Introduction:

The foot of the raptor is probably the most important piece to the animal. This determines the most support for the center of mass and gravity for the raptor. Based on this ideology, we thought about three different types of design for the foot of our raptor.

Level 1 System below:

S1. The 3rd generation velociraptor shall statically walk on a flat surface of linoleum

S2. The 3rd generation velociraptor shall statically walk on a flat surface of cardboard.

S3. The 3rd generation velociraptor shall statically walk on an incline and decline surface of 6.5 degree maximum

S4. The 3rd generation velociraptor shall perform static walking while on a step of .5cm.

D1. The 3rd generation velociraptor should statically walk on a flat surface of linoleum

D2. The 3rd generation velociraptor should statically walk on a flat surface of cardboard.

D3. The 3rd generation velociraptor should statically walk on an incline and decline surface of 6.5 degree maximum

D4. The 3rd generation velociraptor should perform static walking while on a step of .5cm.

For one design we thought of a splined/sloped design. We decided that a curvature at the bottom of the feet may allow the best stability for our raptor. We tried to simulate the feet of humans in this scenario. Most human feet are actually not flat and are more or less splined or curvy and we figured we would duplicate this idea in creating our raptor. The advantages to this idea were minimal at best, while it was the most similar to humans it didn’t offer as much support or foundation for the center of mass for our raptor and when looking at it mechanically it actually would not be easiest design to translate mechanically.

For another design, we thought of a flat surface as the base of the foot of the raptor. In order to support the weight of the raptor we decided that we would need a square base foundation that would support that weight. Also we felt that we would be able to ensure that our raptor would be able to balance better in case of a battle with another dinosaur. However we notice that there would be discrepancies with this design. In the event of a battle, as much a flat base may not provide the best balance, while it would provide some balance it may not be the best. Also when it comes to navigation, a flat surface base as the foot may not provide the best grip for unlevelled surfaces, this may cause the raptor to tilt and fall in areas as such. So then we thought why not a flat surface with spiked feet. This would still give us the strong square- base foundation to which our raptor would be supported which is based off the weight of our raptor as well as the benefits of having spiked feet. With the spiked feet, we would allow the dinosaur to have enough grips as it navigates through different locations. It would also allow for the raptor to use as a weapon in case of a battle. Ideally, this would make the most sense and would satisfy all the components we are looking for our raptor to have.

References:

https://www.arxterra.com/spring-2016-velociraptor-hardware-simulation/

http://sites.uci.edu/markplecnik/projects/leg_mechanisms/leg_designs/