Tiny Robot Can Leap On Water Without Making A Splash
Seoul National University and Harvard have combined with a team of researchers to create a tiny robot that can jump on water. The miniscule stick robot is able to imitate a waters strider's ability to leap from a solid surface of water with the same power and height.
Researchers had to collect water spiders and recorded videos of their movements, analysing the mechanics that permit them to jump on and skim the surface of the water. They discovered that a water spider's legs have slightly curved tips which enable it to take off from the water's surface by rotating their legs inward.
To ensure that their robot could do the same , they found that the best way for it to jump was to keep leg to water contact for as long as possible during the actual jump motion..
By copying this method, the robot can exert up to 16 times its own body weight without breaking the surface of the water. Robert Woods one of the studies co authors said that it was able to do this by spreading out the push needed to jump.
If you apply as much force as quickly as possible on water, the limbs will break through the surface and you won't get anywhere... The resulting robotic insects can achieve the same momentum and height that could be generated during a rapid jump on firm ground – but instead can do so on water – by spreading out the jumping thrust over a longer amount of time and in sustaining prolonged contact with the water's surface.
The robot was made by manufacturing folded composite structures that self assemble which allow them to make small machines. According to the research team the robots can be employed in useful endeavors such as carrying out pollution checks in waterways, however they emphasized that their goal wasn't to commercialize or profit from their findings.
