A photo from open sources Water strider is a unique insect. Having a length of about two centimeters and a weight of the order of sixty eight milligrams, she is able to slide and jump on water without any bursts. The body and legs of the water strider are covered with special non-wettable hairs allowing the insect to move along water surface as a dense membrane.
A group of robotics from Seoul University under under the guidance of Professor Kyuchin Cho, having carefully studied the structure and the behavior of water striders, created miniature robots that are capable of glide along the surface of the water just like amazing insects. According to the researchers, they are simply fascinated by these little creatures. “Believe me, but to create such a robot where more interesting than, say, a robotic dog or bird. Water striders are amazing. That is why we have come to a decision reproduce their unique movement mechanism in robotic device, “Cho told Korean to reporters.
In the process of studying water strips, engineers found that during the jumping legs of the insect are accelerated gradually – thus the surface of the water does not recede immediately, and contact with it is not lost. As it turned out, the maximum pressure force of the limbs of a water strider always slightly lower than the pulling force of water. For this reason the water strider cannot drown.
A photo from open sources
In the manufacture of a miniature robot, scientists used reversal mechanism. The force of repulsion of the device from water increases gradually, which prevents the robot from drowning. The slow motion in the video below demonstrates that at the time of the jump this unique robot – an artificial water stride bends inward your legs to increase the strength of the jerk. Numerous experiments of Koreans showed when the surface of the water is generally condition, she can withstand the pressure exerted by sixteen mechanical water meters, for which the water surface becomes as strong as land.
Harvard University staff providing Korean colleagues some support, felt that received the technology may be put into practice in the future. According to Americans, more massive and agile water-striking robots are possible, for example, will be launched after a shipwreck, programming them to search for surviving people. And not only…
Water Insects Robots
