KazPost

Kazakhstan News
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Scientists create a robot the size of a beetle powered by methanol

Scientists have long been trying to make small robots capable of entering environments that are inaccessible or too dangerous for humans, but until now they have not been able to provide them with the necessary energy for their movement.
A team at the University of Southern California has achieved that goal, creating an 88-milligram robot, the "RoBeetle," that runs on methanol and uses an artificial muscular system to crawl, climb, and carry weight for up to two hours.

The beetle-shaped device is just 15 millimeters long, making it one of the lightest and smallest autonomous robots ever created, its inventor Xiufeng Yang told AFP.

We wanted to create a robot that is similar in size and weight to real insects, added Yang, the lead author of a paper published Wednesday in the journal Science Robotics describing the invention.

The problem with the manufacture of these types of devices is that most robots need motors that are heavy and need electricity, which requires adding batteries.

The smallest batteries available weigh between 10 and 20 times what a tiger beetle weighs, a 50-milligram insect that the team used as a reference.

To overcome that stumbling block, Yang and his colleagues devised an artificial muscular system based on liquid fuel, in this case methanol, that stores about 10 times more energy than a battery of the same size.

Those muscles are made up of wires made of a nickel-titanium alloy whose length contracts when heated, unlike most metals, which expand at higher temperatures.

The creators of the RoBeetle covered those cables with platinum powder that acts as a catalyst for the combustion of methanol vapor.

As the vapor from the robot's fuel tanks burns into platinum powder, the cable contracts and a set of microvalves closes to stop combustion.

The cable then cools and expands, which reopens the valves. The process is repeated until the methanol reservoir is exhausted.

The contraction and expansion movement of these cables is connected to the front legs of the RoBeetle through a transmission mechanism that allows it to crawl.

The team tested their robot on flat, sloping surfaces made of smooth materials, like glass, or rough, like the top of a mattress.

RoBeetle can carry up to 2.6 times its weight and run for two hours on a full tank, Yang explained.

For comparison, the smallest four-legged battery-powered robot weighs one gram and runs for about 12 minutes.

In the future, these minirobots may be used for tasks such as infrastructure inspection, rescue missions after natural disasters or for artificial pollinations.

Robotics experts Ryan Truby and Shuguang Li, from MIT and Harvard University respectively, noted in a written comment that the RoBeetle is an exciting achievement for micro-robotics, although they assured that it still has room for improvement.

The absence of electronics in the robot and the fact that it can only move forward reduces its ability to carry out sophisticated tasks, they noted.
Newsletter

Related Articles

KazPost
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
Europe is boiling: Extreme Weather Conditions Prevail Across the Continent
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
Historic Moment: Edgars Rinkevics, EU's First Openly Gay Head of State, Takes Office as Latvia's President
An Ominous Shift in Warfare: Western Powers Risk War Crimes and Violate International Norms with Cluster Bomb Supply to Ukraine
Bye bye democracy, human rights, freedom: French Cops Can Now Secretly Activate Phone Cameras, Microphones And GPS To Spy On Citizens
The Poor Man With Money, Mark Zuckerberg, Unveils Twitter Replica with Heavy-Handed Censorship: A New Low in Innovation?
The Double-Edged Sword of AI: AI is linked to layoffs in industry that created it
US Sanctions on China's Chip Industry Backfire, Prompting Self-Inflicted Blowback
Meta Copy Twitter with New App, Threads
The New French Revolution
BlackRock Bitcoin ETF Application Refiled, Naming Coinbase as ‘Surveillance-Sharing’ Partner
Corruption in the European Parliament - Business as usual
UK Crypto and Stablecoin Regulations Become Law as Royal Assent is Granted
Paris Suburb Grapples with Violence as Curfew Imposed: Saint-Denis Residents Express Dismay and Anger
A Delaware city wants to let businesses vote in its elections
Alef Aeronautics Achieves Historic Milestone with Flight Certification for World's First Flying Car
Google Blocked Access to Canadian News in Response to New Legislation
French Politicians Advocate for Pan-European Regulation on Social Media Influencers
×