Everyone’s talking about robots and artificial intelligence as of late, and while the world’s most brilliant engineers have managed to create robots that can mimic human movements and behaviors, other experts are looking to other creatures for inspiration. A team of researchers over at Harvard University collaborated with their colleagues at the Seoul National University in order to create a small robot the mimics the unique mechanics of jumping on water displayed by water striders. The researchers closely analyzed water striders and learned that they rotate the curved tips of their legs inward in order to perform the water leaps.
They applied the lessons learned by designing a bio-inspired water robot that can move and jump on water exactly like a water strider. The device measures 0.75 inches in height and features a weight of just two-thousandths of an ounce. It can exert a force of 16 times its own body weight as it stands on water, which means that it can perform some impressive leaps. So why would anyone go through all the trouble of creating a tiny robot that jumps on water? Well, researchers believe that these small robots could be used in search and rescue operations in the future.
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Image courtesy of LAtimes.
