Whether we like to admit it or not, robots and robotized vehicles are a big part of the future.
Robots come in all shape and sizes, but the more complex and minuscule they are, the more fascinating they become; like these 17-gram “microTugs”, for instance. On the face of it, they might not look like much, but six of them managed to pull (very, very slowly) a car 4000 (1814 Kg) pound car. Impressed?
Scientists at Stanford University’s Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory have been studying ways to increase the collective strength of these tiny machines. The rigs were modeled and inspired after ants, which can move and lift objects weighing 100 times their own weight – especially if the creatures work together as a team.
Using a special adhesive reminiscent of gecko toes, the microrobots were developed to move objects over 2000 times their own weight. So, from there to moving an entire car was just a matter of time.
Needless to say, their demonstration was the equivalent of a team of six humans moving a weight equivalent to that of an Eiffel Tower and three Statues of Liberty. And that comes from David Christensen a graduate student and an author of a research paper about the robots, who also stated to The New York Times:
“By considering the dynamics of the team, not just the individual, we are able to build a team of our ‘microTug’ robots that, like ants, are superstrong individually, but then also work together as a team.”