The News of Us
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • Health
  • Subscribe Us
No Result
View All Result
The News of Us
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • Health
  • Subscribe Us
No Result
View All Result
The News of Us
No Result
View All Result

Insect-sized robot navigates mazes with the agility of a cheetah

Many insects and spiders get their uncanny ability to scurry up walls and walk upside down on ceilings with the help of specialized sticky footpads that allow them to adhere to surfaces in places where no human would dare to go.

Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, have used the principle behind some of these footpads, called electrostatic adhesion, to create an insect-scale robot that can swerve and pivot with the agility of a cheetah, giving it the ability to traverse complex terrain and quickly avoid unexpected obstacles.

The robot is constructed from a thin, layered material that bends and contracts when an electric voltage is applied. In a 2019 paper, the research team demonstrated that this simple design can be used to create a cockroach-sized robot that can scurry across a flat surface at a rate of 20 body lengths per second, or about 1.5 miles per hour — nearly the speed of living cockroaches themselves, and the fastest relative speed of any insect-sized robot.

In a new study, the research team added two electrostatic footpads to the robot. Applying a voltage to either of the footpads increases the electrostatic force between the footpad and a surface, making that footpad stick more firmly to the surface and forcing the rest of the robot to rotate around the foot.

The two footpads give operators full control over the trajectory of the robot, and allow the robot to make turns with a centripetal acceleration that exceeds that of most insects.

“Our original robot could move very, very fast, but we could not really control whether the robot went left or right, and a lot of the time it would move randomly, because if there was a slight difference in the manufacturing process — if the robot was not symmetrical — it would veer to one side,” said Liwei Lin, a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley. “In this work, the major innovation was adding these footpads that allow it to make very, very fast turns.”

To demonstrate the robot’s agility, the research team filmed the robot navigating Lego mazes while carrying a small gas sensor and swerving to avoid falling debris. Because of its simple design, the robot can also survive being stepped on by a 120-pound human.

Small, robust robots like these could be ideal for conducting search and rescue operations or investigating other hazardous situations, such as scoping out potential gas leaks, Lin said. While the team demonstrated most of the robot’s skills while it was “tethered,” or powered and controlled through a small electrical wire, they also created an “untethered” version that can operate on battery power for up to 19 minutes and 31 meters while carrying a gas sensor.

“One of the biggest challenges today is making smaller scale robots that maintain the power and control of bigger robots,” Lin said. “With larger-scale robots, you can include a big battery and a control system, no problem. But when you try to shrink everything down to a smaller and smaller scale, the weight of those elements become difficult for the robot to carry and the robot generally moves very slowly. Our robot is very fast, quite strong, and requires very little power, allowing it to carry sensors and electronics while also carrying a battery.”

Lin is the senior author of a paper describing the robot, which appears in the journal Science Robotics.

Source: UC Berkeley

[Read More…]

Previous Post

Astronomers discover an oversized black hole population in the star cluster Palomar 5

Next Post

Kepler telescope glimpses a free-floating planet population

Related Posts

News

The Masked Singer Season 7 Just Delivered Its Most Crushing Elimination Yet

News

Blood, bullet holes, shell casings: the aftermath of Brooklyn subway rampage

News

Heartbreaking notes posted by students on Sunset Park school windows after Brooklyn subway shooting

News

After latest bloodbath, time is running out for Hochul and Adams to save NYC

News

After Internet Wonders If Josh Brolin Will Be In Dune 2, The Actor Clarifies The ‘Ridiculous’ Situation

News

‘RHONJ’ Recap: Teresa Giudice Threatens To ‘Beat’ Margaret Josephs During Nashville Fight

Next Post

Kepler telescope glimpses a free-floating planet population

Follow us for latest Business News | Political News | Science & Technology News | Health News.

Subscribe Us

By clicking subscribe, I authorize: (1) The News Of Us to use and share my information in accordance with its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, and (2) The News Of Us or third-party companies, including The News Of Us’s business partners, to contact me by email with offers for goods and services at the email address provided. Please note that the information you have provided to us may be supplemented with additional information obtained from other sources.
Loading

© 2021 The News of Us, - All Rights Reserved.

  • Subscribe Us
  • Contact Us
  • Unsubscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Service
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science and Technology
  • Health
  • Subscribe Us

© 2021 The News of Us, - All Rights Reserved.