Mechanical engineers at Stanford University in the US have created microrobots that are able to pull 2,000 times their own body weight using principles borrowed from nature to increase their strength.
"By considering the dynamics of the team, not just the individual, we are able to build a team of our 'microTug' robots that, like ants, are super-strong individually, but then also work together as a team," graduate student David Christensen told the New York Times.
The researchers, who have published their findings in a research paper called Let’s All Pull Together: Principles for Sharing Large Loads in Microrobot Teams, created a 12 gram micro robot which uses controllable adhesive, like ants do, to pull 2,000 times its weight.
