In addition to the tiny and quite creepy RoboBee, the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory has developed an incredibly small and unbelievably fast class of ground-based robots.

While there are faster legged robots out there, like the cheetah robot, no robot this small can come close in terms of speed.

There are multiple versions that fall under the Harvard Ambulatory MicroRobot (HAMR) program, ranging from tethered robots the size of a penny to cockroach-sized robots carrying their own battery pack.

The designs are “on the scale of, and inspired by, both insects and myriapods,” according to Harvard. These are just some of many biologically-inspired robots as I recently mentioned, including:

Biologically inspired robots range from giant autonomous jellyfish to larger drones modeled after insects which are even capable of carrying out lethal missions to drones modeled after owls and other birds to robots modeled after cats to robots modeled after humans.

The smallest of the bunch, the HAMR-VP, is a 1.3 gram manufactured using what they call the PC-MEMS process. PC stands for printed circuit and MEMS stands for micro-electro-mechanical systems.

The techniques used to produce these tiny robots were inspired by pop-up books, allowing fabrication and assembly of components which would not otherwise be possible.

The HAMR-VP is capable of moving an astounding 37 cm/s using gait frequencies up to 70Hz. That might not sound like a lot, but that is 8.4 body lengths per second.

An average house mouse moves about 8 body lengths per second, which is about 8 miles per hour (13 km/h). In other words, this thing is pretty fast for a tiny robot.

See the robot run around below:

Continue reading at:  http://endthelie.com/2013/07/27/the-harvard-ambulatory-microrobot-p...