Someday a tiny robotic cockroach could help save your life.
The Verge reports that researchers at UC Berkeley created a robot they've named CRAM--Compressible Robot with Articulated Mechanisms. The tiny robot resembles a cockroach to imitate the creature's ability to fit into tight spaces and resistance to destruction. It uses a jointed exoskeleton along with a soft shell that lets it shift its shape.
Scientists Kaushik Jayaram and Robert Full came up with a series of experiments to test on cockroaches, in order to gather data on three key aspects: "crevice traversal," "confined space crawling," and reactions to "dynamic compressive forces." The first two apply to horizontal and vertical movement, respectively, while the last was to test and imitate a cockroach's ability to sustain a force of up to 900 times its body weight.
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The Verge reports that researchers at UC Berkeley created a robot they've named CRAM--Compressible Robot with Articulated Mechanisms. The tiny robot resembles a cockroach to imitate the creature's ability to fit into tight spaces and resistance to destruction. It uses a jointed exoskeleton along with a soft shell that lets it shift its shape.
Scientists Kaushik Jayaram and Robert Full came up with a series of experiments to test on cockroaches, in order to gather data on three key aspects: "crevice traversal," "confined space crawling," and reactions to "dynamic compressive forces." The first two apply to horizontal and vertical movement, respectively, while the last was to test and imitate a cockroach's ability to sustain a force of up to 900 times its body weight.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...