RoBeetle, The World’s Lightest Crawling Robot

RoBeetle Worlds Smallest Crawling Robot
photo via Washington State University

Néstor O. Pérez-Arancibia, an assistant professor at the Washington State University School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, has created the “RoBeetle”, a tiny four-legged robot that runs on liquid methanol fuel through catalytic combustion. This lilliputian quadruped weighs just 88 milligrams (less than an ounce), climbs slopes like its natural counterpart, and can carry nearly three times its own weight.

The lightest crawling robot ever developed, the Robeetle is uniquely powered by the catalytic combustion of methanol and can climb slopes, navigate various surfaces, and haul objects that weight up to 2.6 times its own weight.

This incredible discovery has also earned Pérez-Arancibia a Guinness World Record for the lightest crawling robot.

Robeetle Robot in Motion

via Boing Boing

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.