Equivalent of a human dragging a blue whale.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Engineers at Stanford University have constructed miniature, lightweight robots that are capable of hauling objects many times their own weight.
The strongest of the robots weighs just 12 grams but can pull objects 2,000 times heavier than itself, reported New Scientist. That is the equivalent of a human dragging a blue whale, said David Christensen, an engineer from the lab that spawned robotic mighty mites.
Another of the robots weighs a mere nine grams but can climb vertically while carrying objects that weigh than a kilogram — the equivalent of a human pulling an elephant up the side of a building.
The tiny robots, which are affectionately referred to as “MicroTugs” according to The Verge, utilize a special directional adhesive in order to achieve their disproportionate feats of strength.
Under normal conditions, only the very tips of the robots’ adhesive wedges make contact with the surface underneath it, meaning that the robot is effectively free to move without resistance, reported DNA India. But the micro-robots are also capable of pushing the wedges down in order to make them stick firmly to a base when the need arises.
The MicroTugs’ adhesive mechanisms were inspired by geckos, reported The Verge, while their manner of locomotion was borrowed from the common inchworm. While one half of its body moves forward, the other stays locked in place, which allows the robot to climb up walls while losing neither its grip nor cargo.
The Stanford team now hopes to build larger and more powerful versions of the MicroTugs that could be used to move heavier loads around factories or building sites, while specialized models could save lives by traversing dangerous terrain — such as a burning building — to deliver supplies such as rope ladders or oxygen.