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An insect, known as a water strider, next to robots that were inspired by the water-hopping creatures.
Credit: Seoul National University
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Swarms of robots inspired by water-hopping insects could one day be
used for surveillance, search-and-rescue missions and environmental
monitoring, researchers say.
More than 1,200 species of animals have evolved the
ability to walk on water. These include tiny creatures such as insects and spiders, and larger beasts such as reptiles, birds and even mammals.
Whereas relatively big animals, such as the so-called
"Jesus lizard,"
must slap water with enough force and speed to keep their heavy bodies
from going under, insects called water striders are small enough for
their weight to be almost entirely supported by the surface tension of
water — the same phenomenon that makes water droplets bead up. In 2003,
scientists created the first robots that mimic the water strider, which
is capable of floating on top of, and skating across, the surface of
water. [
The 6 Strangest Robots Ever Created]
But until now, one water-strider feat that researchers could not
explain or copy was how the insects can jump from the surface of water,
leaping just as high off water as they can off solid ground. For
instance, water striders collected from streams and ponds in Seoul,
South Korea, with bodies a half-inch (1.3 centimeters) long can jump
more than 3 inches (8 cm) high on average, co-lead study author Je-Sung
Koh, a roboticist at Seoul National University and Harvard University,
told Live Science.
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