This Inchworm Robot Doesn't Need Electricity or Motors to Move

said braka 12:13 AM
South Korean scientists have developed tiny

robots that don't need an engine or battery to power their movements. But it's not perpetual motion. Instead, the robots run on environmental humidity, absorbing the moisture in their surroundings to be powered by water.

In a new paper in Science Robots, the scientists from Seoul National University describe the advantages of microrobots and how their so-called hygrobots could increase their usage. Microrobots can already help people have children and pull cars, but they're limited by the number of power sources available to them.

To solve the problem, the Korean team took an interdisciplinary approach. The paper's authors include Beomjune Shin of the SNU's department of mechanical and aerospace engineering as well as Gee Ho Park of the school's program looking at stem cell biology. The product is a bot inspired by plants.