UCLA and Michigan build a small hopping robot powered by snapping Nitinol rods

Engineers at UCLA and the University of Michigan built an 11 cm, 98.2 g robot whose two rear limbs are helical Nitinol rods that servos twist until they suddenly flip shape and launch it forward. Across six surfaces it averaged 2.46 body lengths per second, against 0.79 for a rigid-legged version, and it can also swim, climb small steps and steer. The work, published in Science Advances, targets inspection and search-and-rescue in cluttered sites.

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