REAL LIFE NEWS: ROBO-ANTS PULL CAR
by Hazed
In real life, ants are strong creatures that, by working together, can move large objects. Now some scientists have copied their behaviour to make six robotic ants pull a car weighing 3,900 pounds.
If this feat was scaled up for humans it would be the equivalent of six people dragging the Eiffel tower and three Statues of Liberty!
The team of ants are called Microtugs, and they have been developed by the Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Lab at Stanford University.
The team came up with the idea for the Microtugs by watching ants working together in the wild to pull a large object. The insects can lift up to 100 times their own weight, and when they need to haul large loads they form long chains. By synchronizing their footsteps they can exert a steady, powerful force.
“By considering the dynamics of the team, not just the individual, we are able to build a team of our ‘Microtug’ robots that, like ants, are super strong individually, but then also work together as a team,” team member David Christensen told The New York Times.
The Microtugs also take some ideas from geckos: instead of legs they use ultra-sticky wheels that use glue to mimic the lizards’ feet.
You can see a video of the Microtugs in action at the link below.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/15/robot_ants_pull_car/
