Engineers have introduced the smallest remote-controlled walking robot ever created, even smaller than a flea.
The little robotic crab can “walk, bend, turn, turn, and jump,” according to engineers at Northwestern University in the United States. It could signal the beginning of a new era of microscale robotics.
The small machine does not work with miniaturized hardware and electronics, but with a memory-shaped alloy material that transforms when heated.
Image: The robot was shaped like a crab because it amused the students. Image: Northwestern University
How do they move?
Researchers use a scanned laser beam to quickly heat the device in different places on its body to make it effectively transform and force the robot’s movement.
One of the tricks the researchers used was to cover the device with a thin layer of glass that forces this part of the robot’s structure to return to its deformed shape after it cools.
“Because these structures are so small, the cooling rate is very fast. In fact, reducing the size of these robots allows them to run faster,” said Professor John Rogers, who led the experimental research.
Part of the achievement was in the manufacturing process, which involves joining flat precursors to lightly stretched rubber, forcing crabs to take on a 3D shape like an emerging book.
The work remains exploratory and experimental, however.
Despite the comparable range of motion and size, the crab is much slower than a flea and has “an average speed of half its body length per second,” according to Professor Yonggang Huang, who directed the theoretical work. .
“This is very difficult to achieve on such a small scale for terrestrial robots,” added Professor Huang.
Image: The little robot is small enough to stand on the edge of a coin. Image: John Rogers / Northwestern University
Created on a whim
Northwestern University said: “While research is currently being explored, researchers believe that its technology could bring the field closer to making micro-sized robots that can perform practical tasks indoors.”
“You can imagine micro-robots as agents for repairing or assembling small structures or machines in industry, or as surgical assistants to clear clogged arteries, stop internal bleeding, or remove cancerous tumors, all in minimally invasive procedures. “, added Professor Rogers.
Image: The team can make small crabs using an emerging book style process. Image: Northwestern University
Millimeter-sized robots that looked like inch worms, crickets, and beetles were also created, but Professor Rogers and Huang’s students opted for mirror crabs.
“We can build robots that walk in almost any size or 3D shape,” Professor Rogers said.
“But the students were inspired and amused by the side crawling movements of the little crabs. It was a creative whim.”
The research has been published in the journal Science Robotics.