Imagine tiny robots zipping across the surface of a lake to check water quality or searching for people in flooded areas. This technology is moving closer to reality thanks to work by researchers at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. Inspired by nature and insects such as water striders that walk on water, they created two prototype devices that can propel themselves across liquid surfaces.
The first, called HydroFlexor, paddles across a surface using fin-like motions. The second, named HydroBuckler, “walks” forward with a buckling motion that mimics the water-walking insects...
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