News: Engineers succeed in designing microbot that can walk and jump on water

Engineers succeed in designing microbot that can walk and jump on water #TechNews #Robotics

The super-light water strider doesn’t actually walk on water to move but rather jumps on it to move from one point to another. This process of locomotion is increasingly difficult to achieve using robots (as noted from the engineering team’s previous effort), so the engineers needed to figure out a way to keep their microbot design afloat while jumping on the water’s surface. To accomplish this feat, the team designed their robot using three supporting legs — one on the front of the robot and two positioned at the rear — and two moveable legs positioned on either side of the microbot that are articulated using a tiny DC motor along with a reduction gear unit. The robots ‘legs’ were made out of super-hydrophobic nickel foam which allows the 0.388 ounce robot to remain on top of the water while jumping. The engineering team’s microbot was actually able to jump over 5 inches ...

Full article: http://www.element14.com/community/community/news/blog/20...