March 4, 2025
A springtail-like jumping robot | ScienceDaily
Springtails, smallbugs often found crawling through leaf litter and garden soil, are expert jumpers. Inspired by these hopping hexapods, roboticists in theHarvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have made a walking, jumping robot that pushes the boundaries of what small robots can do. Published in Science Robotics, the research glimpses a future where nimble microrobots can crawl through tiny spaces, skitter across dangerous ground, and sense their environments without human intervention. The new Harvard robot was created in the lab of Robert J. Wood, the Harry Lewis and Marlyn McGrath Professor of Engineering and Applied