Washington State University has developed two insect robots, a mini-bug and a water strider.
The micro-sized robots were created with the hope that thy could one day carry out human roles in artificial pollination, search and rescue, environmental monitoring, microfabrication, and robotic-assisted surgery in mind.
Both the mini-bug and water strider can move 6mm a second.
Conor Trygstad, a PhD student at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, who led the research, said: “That is fast compared to other micro-robots at this scale, although it still lags behind their biological relatives."
Trygstad was able to get the mini-bugs down to 1mg, said to be the smallest ever.
Nestor O Perez-Arancibia, Flaherty Associate Professor in Engineering at WSU’s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and project leader, said: “The actuators are the smallest and fastest ever developed for micro-robotics."
With a small current, the wires can flap or move up to 40 times per second.
It uses a shape memory alloy to heat and change shape.
Meanwhile, Fish robots previously helped scientists discover why fish school together.
A research project by Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (MPI-AB), the University of Konstanz, and Peking University used biomimetic fish-like robots and unveiled how the fish use the swirls of water to propel themselves.
The robot fish had a soft tail fin and swam with an undulating motion to mimic that of a real fish.
