Harvard’s cockroach-inspired robot HAMR is now equipped to walk on and under water. HAMR is quite small and has no trouble balancing on top of water. (Photo via Harvard)
Harvard’s cockroach-inspired bot, HAMR (Harvard Ambulatory MicroRobot) was already pretty impressive with its size and movement speed. But seems like they wanted to make HAMR even better and more like the bug it’s inspired by. Now, the bot has the ability to walk under and on water as well as it does on land.
Since cockroaches can survive underwater for up to half an hour, the team behind HAMR wanted to add a similar functionality not only to mimic the bot’s real-world inspiration but to open it up to new applications as well. HAMR’s footpads use surface tension and related buoyancy to float on water. Electrowetting, which is reducing the contact angle between a material and a water surface under a voltage, is what helps it push back water to walk on the ground at the bottom.
To swim HAMR uses asymmetric paddling inspired by the flap-like appendages on the legs of a diving beetle. The bot opens these flaps and pushes the water to thrust forward before retracting them. When it’s time to return to land, the bot uses a stiffened transmission to overcome the surface tension while the soft pads redistribute the friction when it gets out of the water, but a ramp is required to ensure HAMR makes it out. And though the machine is tiny, it only weighs 2.8 grams, it’s still sturdy enough to carry a 1.44 gram payload.
The team will continue working on HAMR adding more features and abilities. For one, they want to find a way for the bot to get back on land without relying on a ramp. They’re currently looking into a jumping mechanism or adding gecko-like adhesives to help. They also have plans to put batteries and sensors on board along with increasing the vehicle payload. They think it’ll take about five to ten years to get to this point.
No doubt, HAMR has come far from first iterations where the bot could scuttle about, but needed to be tethered to a power source. The bot still has to be controlled by a human, but this can be done wirelessly. Who says cockroaches can’t be good for something?
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