  We present here the results of an analysis carried out by biologists and
roboticists with the aim of modeling bird locomotion kinematics for robotics
purposes. The aim was to develop a bio-inspired kinematic model of the bird leg
from biological data. We first acquired and processed kinematic data for
sagittal and top views obtained by X-ray radiography of quails walking. Data
processing involved filtering and specific data reconstruction in three
dimensions, as two-dimensional views cannot be synchronized. We then designed a
robotic model of a bird-like leg based on a kinematic analysis of the
biological data. Angular velocity vectors were calculated to define the number
of degrees of freedom (DOF) at each joint and the orientation of the rotation
axes.
