These tiny bug-inspired robots could be used to access confined spaces

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed tiny bug-inspired robots that can carry out tasks in hard-to-reach spaces and inhospitable environments.

Designed by M. Ravi Shankar's Lab, who is a professor of industrial engineering at Pitt, the robots are made of a polymeric artificial muscle and about the size of a cricket.

According to the researchers, for tiny creatures like trap-jaw ants, mantis shrimp and fleas, jumping across a surface is more energy-efficient than crawling. Those impulsive movements were replicated in the robots that latch on to build up energy and then release it in an impulsive burst to spring forward.

The versatile movement and lightweight structure enable the robots to move along moving surfaces like sand as easily as hard surfaces, and even to hop across water.

"These robots could be used to access confined areas for imaging or environmental evaluation, take water samples, or perform structural evaluations. Anywhere you want to access confined places - where a bug could go but a person could not - these machines could be useful," said Junfeng Gao, who led the work as a PhD student in industrial engineering at the Swanson School of Engineering.

The paper titled "Molecularly Directed, Geometrically Latched, Impulsive Actuation Powers Sub-Gram Scale Motility," was published in the journal Advanced Materials Technologies.