Biomimetics is, in the last decade, one of the branches of science and technology most sought after by experts. Although he has been inspiring scientists for thousands of years, this discipline, who seeks Take advantage of nature to create equal troops designs that those achieved by evolution has taken a leap in recent years. Literal example of this is the case of a robot capable of jumping three meters high … without legs with which to drive.
Inspired by the movements of a tiny parasite wormEngineers of the Technological Institute of Georgia (Georgia Tech) have created a 12.7 cm soft robot that can jump as high as a basketball basket.
The robot, with a silicone body and a backbone of carbon fiber, It can jump 3 meters high despite not having legs. Those responsible for the progress, led by Sunny Kumar, created it after watching a high speed video of nematodes that pinched forming strange ways to launch forward and backward.
Kumar’s team described the soft robot in Science Robotics stating that Their findings could help develop robots capable of jumping on various lands, at different heights and in multiple directions.
“The nematodes They are amazing creatures with thinner bodies than a human hair -Kumar explains -. They have no legs, but they can jump up to 20 times their body length. It is as if I lay me down and, in some way, jump to a three -story building. ”
Nematodes, also known as round worms, are among the most abundant creatures on Earth. They live in the environment and humans, insects and animals. They can cause diseases in their guest, which is sometimes beneficial. For example, Farmers and gardeners use nematodes instead of pesticides to kill invading insects and protect plants.
A way in which they adhere to their guest before entering their body is jumping. Using high-speed cameras, Víctor Oretega-Jiménez, co-author of the study, observed creatures to bend their bodies in different ways as I wanted to go.
To jump back, the nematodes raise their heads while tense the middle part of their body to create a curve. The form is similar to that of a person on squatting. From there, The worm uses the energy stored in its contorted form to drive backcircling, like a gymnast making a somersault back.
However, to jump forward, The worm straightens the head and creates a curve at the opposite end of his bodypointing up. The posture is similar to that of someone who prepares for a length of length from a fixed position. But instead of jumping in a straight line, the worm catapult up.
“Changing its mass center allows these creatures to control the direction in which they jump. We do not know any other organism on this scale so small that it can jump efficiently in both directions to the same height – adds Kumar -. And they do it even though their bodies virtually form a knot. In biological terms, knots are usually dangerous: crooked blood vessels can cause strokes, but a crooked nematode stores energy it uses to boost in the air. ”
After watching the videos, the team created simulations of the jumping nematodes. Then they built rSoft obots to replicate the behavior of skipping worms, subsequently reinforcing them with carbon fibers to accelerate the jumps.
The group discovered that curves allow The nematodes store more energy with each jump. They quickly release it – in a tenth of millisecond – to jump, and are resistant enough to repeat the process several times.
Kumar team suggests that engineers could create simple elastic systems made of carbon fiber or other materials that could resist and take advantage of the curves to jump through various lands.
“Recently, A jumper robot was launched to the moon, and other skipping robots are being created to help in search and rescue missionswhere they must cross land and unpredictable obstacles -Kumar concludes. Our laboratory continues to find interesting ways that creatures use their unique bodies to do interesting things, and then build robots that imitate them. ”