In the review ScienceRoboticsresearchers from Northwestern University presented on May 25, 2022 their work on the smallest remote-controlled walking robot ever created : a crab.
A robot crab, smaller than a chip
This remote-controlled walking robot is even smaller than a chip. As Northwestern University researchers explain, this little crab has amazing abilities despite its small size. This is a further step towards robotic miniaturization, a subject that fascinates professionals in the sector. After the robot-dog from Boston Dynamics and the robot-fly from Harvard, here is the robot-crab. It barely measures half a millimeter long. It’s a real feat.
46% of French Internet users continue to accept all cookies
This tiny robot crab was imagined and designed by John A. Rogers, a professor of bio-electronics at Northwestern University. He really looks like a crab, with its ten legs, two of which with mini-clamps. The researchers point out that this little robot can walk, bend, jump and even twist in all directions to complete the required tasks. John A. Rogers specifies that “robotics is an exciting field of research, and the development of micro-scale robots is a fun topic for academic exploration”.
A future surgical assistant?
So, what will this tiny robot be used for? Its designers believe that this tiny robot represents “an open door to multiple uses, due to its very small size”. Indeed, this advantage should allow him carry out missions in confined spaces, particularly in the fields of industry or health. Miniature robots are of increasing interest to robotics professionals.
In this case, the researchers estimate that this robot crab could, for example, “repairing or assembling small structures or machinery in factories. It could also be used as a surgical assistant to clean clogged arteries, to stop internal bleeding or to remove cancerous tumors..
According to academics, with such assembly techniques and material concepts, “we can build walking robots with almost any size or 3D shape”. The students felt inspired and amused by the sideways crawling movements of the little crabs: “it was a creative quirk”. John A. Rogers specifies that the operation of this robot-crab is entirely based on elasticity and resilience, the researchers only called on “no electronic or hydraulic structure”.