https://www.newscientist.com/article/2391584-watch-a-frog-like-robot-use-tiny-explosions-to-hop-around/ Close Advertisement Sign in [ ] [ ] * Shop * Courses * Events * Tours * Jobs Subscribe now Explore by section * News * Features * Newsletters * Podcasts * Video * Comment * Culture * Crosswords | * This week's magazine Explore by subject * Health * Space * Physics * Technology * Environment * Mind * Humans * Life * Mathematics * Chemistry * Earth * Society Explore our products and services * Shop * Courses * Events * Tours * Jobs Subscribe now Subscribe now Technology Watch a frog-like robot use tiny explosions to hop around Insect-sized robots that can crawl, hop and turn by harnessing the power of explosions can be cheaply produced for a range of applications By Matthew Sparkes 14 September 2023 A robot powered by tiny explosions can jump 20 times its own length and carry 22 times its own weight. Its makers say it could be produced cheaply in bulk and is ideal for search-and-rescue missions or even exploring other planets. Most robots are powered by electric motors and batteries, which are reliable, tried-and-tested technologies, but can't be miniaturised past a certain point. Robert Shepherd at Cornell University in New York and his colleagues have turned instead methane, a chemical fuel that can store energy at a much higher density than lithium-ion batteries and be scaled down to tiny insect-sized devices. The team created an actuator with a 3D-printed combustion chamber that weighs just 325 milligrams. A pair of electrodes create a spark and ignite a mix of methane and oxygen, and the resulting explosion pushes against a flexible membrane with 9.5 newtons of force. Advertisement The membrane rapidly expands outwards during each explosion, but safely contains the gases, which are then vented as it contracts. The actuator can create up to 100 such explosions every second and, at lower frequencies, one of the actuators survived an 8.5-hour durability test, during which it withstood 750,000 successful firings. Next, the team created a four-legged prototype robot equipped with two of these combustion chambers, each linked to a pair of expanding membranes attached to one foot. Fuel was supplied remotely via thin pipes. The tests found the robot was capable of moving 22 times its own weight, showing that it could operate with onboard fuel in the future. The 29-millimetre-long, 1.6-gram robot can jump to a height of 56 centimetres and hop forwards 16 centimetres. It can also crawl or hop along a variety of surfaces at speeds of up to of 16.9 centimetres per second by rapidly triggering its actuators, and steer in either direction by triggering only one combustion chamber at a time. Sign up to our The Daily newsletter The latest science news delivered to your inbox, every day. Sign up to newsletter Read more Robot injects drugs into back of eyeball more accurately than surgeons The team says being able to create lots of force quickly on a tiny scale means that these actuators might be useful not just in robotics, but also in automated laboratory equipment and pumps. But Shepherd warns that there is one important downside to powering robots with explosions: loud noises. "There are lots of places that this would be useful that wouldn't be right next to a person," he says. "I do actually think this would be a solution to search and rescue, and operations in austere and remote environments like space, like underwater. Helping people in hospitals? I would say probably not." Journal reference: Science DOI: 10.1126/science.adg5067 The future of transport Sarah Sharples explores, on 7 October, how the UK Department for Transport is working to create green, healthy and accessible transport Book your tickets here: Topics: * robots Advertisement More from New Scientist Explore the latest news, articles and features Life We finally know what makes orange carrots orange News Free Comment New Scientist Live: What we are most looking forward to seeing in 2023 News Free Technology Corkscrew-shaped microbot could use sound to spiral through human body News Free Comment The Coming Wave review: How AI reshapes our world Culture Subscriber-only Popular articles Trending New Scientist articles 1 Watch a frog-like robot use tiny explosions to hop around 2 Free will: Can neuroscience reveal if your choices are yours to make? 3 These are the next comets that will be visible in 2023 4 Jet fuel made with captured CO2 and clean electricity set for take-off 5 Hollow nanoparticles linked by DNA make unusually strong materials 6 Waste plastic can be recycled into hydrogen fuel and graphene 7 Hopes fade for renewed contact with India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander 8 Lack of neuron 'pruning' may be behind many brain-related conditions 9 We finally know what makes orange carrots orange 10 Unlocking the mysteries of the body's system that lets you get high Advertisement Download the app Download on the apple apps store Download on Google play Find us on social media Instagram * Instagram Facebook * Facebook Twitter * Twitter Tiktok * Tiktok LinkedIn * LinkedIn Subscriptions * Subscriber benefits * Gift * Student * Educational * Corporate Support * Help * About us * Advertise * Write for us Tools * Events * Science Jobs * CoLab * Syndication * RSS feeds Legal and privacy * Contact us * Privacy policy * Cookie policy * Terms & conditions * Cookie Settings (c) Copyright New Scientist Ltd. 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