The Spider Robots From Minority Report Are Here
The spider robots from Minority Report are no longer science fiction, instead the prototype has already been created by researchers from Harvard and Seoul National University. In fact, they studied real-life insects to figure out the mechanics for the automated version. Kyujin Cho, professor of mechanical engineering at Seoul National University told Reuters magazine, “I’m just fascinated by how the water striders can jump on water and I’m really excited to see that we were able to extract the principles from nature to re-create one of the most fascinating locomotion of nature, the water jumping.”
The prototype is tiny weighing in at 68 milligrams and only has a 2 centimeter long body. The robotic insect can jump as high on water as it can on hard ground. They believe the robot can be used in search and rescue and surveillance activities. To learn more about the robotics team* and their research, head on over to Reuters for the story.
*From Reuters: In addition to Cho, the multi-disciplinary research team included biologists Professors Piotr Jablonski and Sangim Lee and fluid dynamics Professor Ho-Young Kim, all from Seoul National, and Harvard biorobotics Professor Robert Wood.
Now, if you want a hair-raising reminder of those spider robots from Minority Report, check out this clip from YouTube:
