'Grasshopper' robot sets high-jump record

Taking its inspiration from the grasshopper, a tiny two-legged robot that stores elastic energy in springs has leaped 27 times its own height, smashing the record of 17 times set by a previous robot.

Its creators hope that swarms of such hopping robots could spread out to explore disaster areas, or even the surfaces of other planets.

The robot is only 5 centimetres tall, and weighs just 7 grams. A motor designed to power the vibration unit of a pager drives a system of gears that gradually wind two metal springs (see image, right).

The things that John the Revelator and the prophet Joel saw come to mind.

“They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.” (Joel 2:7)

“And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men.
And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.
And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. (Revelation 9:7)

While impressive, a different insect technique, ballooning, may be more to the point in planetary exploration. A probe lands, then inflates balloon after balloon, sending them skyward with any number of different purposes.

Along with capsules of compressed gas, so each balloon can adjust its own altitude, each would have a camera and a radio to send and receive information from a satellite. They might be equipped with a small fan for directional guidance.

They could be directed to land somewhere, where they might perform some other test.

I’m always amazed by the baby spiders that let out a thread of silk into the wind until it is long enough to carry them away.

Takes them much farther in one day than they could ever crawl in a lifetime.

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