MIT's tiny hopping robot is designed to go places humans can't
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Apr 28, 2025
Combining a spring-based jump with wing control, the robot can adapt to surfaces like ice, glass, and uneven ground.
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MIT engineers have developed a tiny, hopping robot designed to navigate complex terrain with minimal energy use
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At just insect scale, this robot can leap over obstacles, cross slippery or uneven surfaces, and carry payloads much heavier than itself, all without the energy demands of flight
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It's built for environments where traditional crawling or flying robots fall short, like disaster zones or collapsed buildings
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By combining a spring-loaded leg with flapping wings for control, this robot offers a new approach to efficient, agile movement at a miniature scale
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The robot is smaller than your thumb, and weighs less than a paperclip. But don't let the size fool you
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This thing seems pretty capable. At the core is a tiny spring-loaded leg, kind of like the spring in a clicky pin
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That leg gives the robot a powerful boost off the ground. Add to that four flapping wing modules, and you've got control, lift, and stability mid-air
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The result? A robot that can jump about 20 centimeters high, or four times its own height
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and move forward at 30 centimeters per second. It glides across ice, wet glass, uneven dirt
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and more. It can even hop onto a flying drone in mid-air. So what's so interesting about hopping
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Well, it's all about energy recycling. When the robot hits the ground, the spring stores some of
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that energy, just like when you compress a spring toy. Then, it releases that energy to launch the
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robot upward again It kind of like bouncing on a trampoline Minimal waste maximum reuse Now the spring isn perfect Some energy gets lost on impact And that where the wings come in They give a little extra push help adjust the robot orientation
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and make sure it's always upright and ready for the next hop. The robot also survived all the lab tests without needing a single repair
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So not only is it light and agile, but it seems to be surprisingly tough
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The brains of this bot are pretty interesting too. Every time it hops, it calculates its trajectory and estimates where it's going to land
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While in the air, it adjusts its position using its wings. So it hits the ground at the right angle, with the right force, ready to bounce again
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Think of it like a gymnast doing a perfect flip and sticking the landing over and over again
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It can even adapt to different surfaces. On grass, where the blades dampen movement, the robot boosts its wing power to get the same jump
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On glass, it eases off a bit. It can also handle surfaces that tilt while it's jumping
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And because of its low weight and smart design, this robot can actually carry up to 10 times more payload than a similarly sized flying robot
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That opens up possibilities for adding batteries, sensors, and circuits without sacrificing
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performance. Eventually, the team wants to make it fully autonomous. That means it could navigate
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disaster zones all on its own, carrying equipment, relaying signals, maybe even helping find people
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trapped under debris. The fact that this little guy can jump, flip, adapt to crazy surfaces
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and carry stuff without needing constant recharging certainly gives it an edge
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So yeah, hopping might not be the flashiest way to move around
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but in this case, it's giving tiny robots a serious leg up
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