![\"Engineers](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2019\/12\/robotic-bug-designed-survive-swatting-300x158.jpg\")
<\/div>Strong Bug<\/h2>
As if nature wasn’t already full of pests, a team of engineers just built their own<\/a> — and the little bug can take a beating.<\/p> The DEAnsect is a soft robot<\/a> modeled after an insect, and it’s the work of engineers from Switzerland’s École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and France’s University of Cergy-Pontoise.<\/p> After they built the bot, the engineers stomped on it, smooshed it with a fly swatter, and even folded it in half, but the robot kept scooting along — a creepy mental image, sure, but also a big step forward for soft robotics technology.<\/p> According to research<\/a> published Wednesday in Soft Robotics<\/em>, the engineers built two versions of the DEAnsect — one tethered to a controller and the other wireless and more autonomous — giving scientists the ability to choose the little critter<\/a> that best meets their needs.<\/p> The two versions present a tradeoff between durability and mobility. The tethered model can survive more abuse because it only contains its own tiny artificial muscles. The wireless model, however, has to carry visual sensors, a battery, and other electronics that make it a bit more vulnerable to being squished.<\/p> Even if the wireless bug can’t take as much abuse, the fact that it can carry everything it needs marks a significant leap forward for autonomous soft robots.<\/p> “This technique opens up new possibilities for the broad use of [artificial muscles] in robotics,” researcher Herbert Shea said in the release, “for swarms of intelligent robotic insects, for inspection or remote repairs, or even for gaining a deeper understanding of insect colonies by sending a robot to live amongst them.”<\/p> READ MORE: <\/strong>A soft robotic insect that survives being flattened by a fly swatter<\/a> [EPFL newsroom]<\/p> More on soft robots: <\/strong>This Soft Robot Mimics Plant Tendrils to Creep and Climb<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post This Robotic Bug Was Designed to Survive Swatting<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> See the original post here: Strong Bug As if nature wasn\u2019t already full of pests, a team of engineers just built their own \u2014 and the little bug can take a beating. Continue reading Adventure Bug<\/h2>
Useful Bug<\/h2>
This Robotic Bug Was Designed to Survive Swatting<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"