National researcher succeed in developing a “water strider robot” that floats on water.

 

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Since young, didn’t you wonder how a water strider does what it does? A national researcher progressed this curiosity a step further and developed a robot that strides over water just like a water strider. More on the news by science journalist Eun Jung Lee.

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Ultra-small robots that slip through cracks to find the spy in a tub.
What used to be just futuristic robots in movies now hold a potential to be realistic.
A national researcher has succeeded in developing water strider robot that can walk and run across the surface of a body of water.
The unique characteristic of a water strider is in its legs, where it jumps by first bending its legs and propelling itself forward.
During this rage of motions, the force in which the body presses the water has to be lesser than that of the surface tension of the water to keep it afloat.

<Interview> Ho-Young Kim (SNU Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Professor) : “We found out that the legs do not just simply extend forwards. Rather, they rotate to maximize contact time between the leg and the water”
The robot the research team made mimicked the water strider’s movement and succeeded in jumping up to 14cm.
Because the bent legs do not sink and continuously pushes the water, it jumps as high on water as it does on land.
Including the movement mechanism, the entire robot weighs in at just 68 milligrams, with the national science journal <Science> showing a great deal of interest as well.

<Interview> Kyu-Jin Cho (SNU Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Professor) : “We made the mechanism using a method derived from origami, by machining the parts from flat materials and then folding them into shape”
The research team showed hopes of water surface translating robots being used to enter or monitor polluted or destroyed regions.

KBS NEWS Eun Jung Lee.

Article Shortcut  http://mn.kbs.co.kr/news/view.do?ncd=3122646


Jorunal Science Magazine > 31 July 2015 > Koh et al., 349 (6247): 517-521 
 http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6247/517

Science Article: http://news.sciencemag.org/technology/2015/07/video-tiny-robot-walks-jumps-water

BBC Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-33719518

New York Times Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/science/never-mind-walking-water-striders-can-jump-on-water.html?_r=0

Other Foregin Mecia: https://news.google.com/news/story?ncl=dI0lQeNl-aXvDtM6Ap9sISoRWZU9M&q=water+jumping+robot&lr=Korean&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCkQqgIwAGoVChMI68-cyvGLxwIVwqymCh13eQFZ