Researchers from the Harvard University and Seoul National University have team up to create a tiny robot that can imitate a water strider and jump up on water. In the past, researchers have devised a robot that can walk across the water but have failed in mimicking the ability of the insects to jump up and escape from whatever (or whoever) it is they are fleeing from.

As the insects have very light legs, it is capable of leaping itself high on the surface of the water. To add to that, it also possess hairy feet that can help enact added rowing action in favor of the rising movement.

But just how does can this tiny imitation robot do it?

The researchers took inspiration from the insect role model and created four legs for their tiny robot project. The legs help the robot carry itself from a solid or water surface; however, instead of the lightweight element that helps true insects, the robot uses the energy stored in a device loaded with spring that imitates the mechanism of a flea's leg when it jumps. The spring device is activated by heat and is enhanced so that it can pull the robot's pliant legs in an inward and downward motion below the time frame that would plow the water surface. This action will result in a successful leap rather than a smash into the water. The feet of the robot were coated in a superrepellent material to disable the water from decelerating as it ascends.

"Water's surface needs to be pressed at the right speed for an adequate amount of time, up to a certain depth, in order to achieve jumping," says study co-senior author Kyu Jin Cho, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of the Biorobotics Laboratory at Seoul National University. The water strider can do this action in a clean and flawless manner.

Upon jumping from a water surface, the robot invented by the team can attain the same momentum and height exhibited when the jump is made on a solid ground, says Robert Wood, Ph.D., co-author from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

This collaboration of international scientists was not only able to devise an innovative experiment inspired by biotechnology, but has also contributed fresh insights into the natural mechanisms involved in water striders, comments Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., the founding director of the Wyss Institute.

Watch the video presentation here:

Photo: Harvard University | YouTube