Berkeley’s researchers create a insect robot with exceptional agility

Robotics researchers are constantly working to improve robots for all kinds of tasks. One of the most targeted areas of research creates small robots with high agility levels, which allows them to easily navigate in complex environments. The Engineers of the University of California, Berkeley used a principle behind some of the poles of specialized sticky tracks observed on insects that allow them to adhere to the surfaces to create an insect robot using electrostatic adhesion.

Electrostatic adhesion allows the robot to inflate and rotate agility with a cheetah. Its high agility allows the robot to move on a complex plot and quickly avoid all unexpected obstacles. The robot created by the team is constructed from a thin layer of flowing material and contracted when electrical voltage is applied.

The design of the robot was originally developed in 2019 and is a Cockroach size robot capable of raging on a flat surface at a speed of 20 body lengths per second, or about 1.5 miles per hour. The new study saw the team add a pair of electrostatic pieces to the robot. The application of the tension to one or the other trails increases the electrostatic force between the Pott-pavilion and the surface of the robot work, making the trail collection more firmly on the surface. With one of the trails stuck more firmly on the surface, the rest of the robot turns around the foot, increasing his agility.

A pair of search trails gives the operator of the robot control on his trajectory and allows the robot to go turns with a higher centripetal acceleration than that generated by most insects. The team says that if the original robot of 2019 can go very fast, they could not control if the robot went left or right. The new robot was filmed when searching for lab navigation, while carrying a small gas sensor and swells to avoid falling debris.

The small size of the robot allows him to survive a human of 120 pounds. Small and robust robots with great agility, such as that of the Berkeley team created, have the potential to be used in search and rescue operations and for other hazardous tasks for humans, including research Potential gas leaks.