One of the major challenges that face robots designed for space exploration is being able to move over rough terrain. Robots with legs are generally very complex, expensive to build and control, and encounter problems if they fall over. Wheels are a simpler solution to his, but are limited by the size of obstacles they can overcome.

The ‘Jollbot’, has been designed by Rhodri Armour, a PhD student from the University of Bath, to overcome these problems. The robot is shaped like a spherical cage which can roll in any direction, giving it the manoeuvrability of wheels, without the problem of overturning or getting stuck in potholes.

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A grasshopper-inspired jumping robot weighing 7g which has the ability to jump 1.4m, or 27 times its body size, has been unveiled at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics in California.

Small jumping animals such as fleas, locusts, grasshoppers and frogs use elastic storage mechanisms to slowly charge and quickly release their jumping energy. In this way, they can achieve very powerful jumps and very high accelerations. As seen in the video, this jumping robot uses the exact same principle, charging two torsion springs via a small 0.6-gram pager motor and a cam. In order to be able to optimise the jumping performance, the legs can be adjusted for jumping force, take-off angle and force profile during the acceleration phase.  The tiny battery on board allows it to make up to 320 jumps at intervals of 3 seconds.

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