Insect-Like Tiny Robot Powered By An Alcohol

Some experts and researchers have recently invented a tiny robot that is like the insect beetle which they called it “RoBeetle” that is powered by just an alcohol particularly methanol.

The tiny robot can move autonomy not like other non-tiny robots that are battery reliant and electricity reliant It can move on its own. It is small but powerful in the sense of autonomy compare to large robots.

“The methanol-powered muscles used by RoBeetle, an 88-milligram-long microrobot, can use catalytic combustion to reach energy levels up to 20 MJ/kg.” (New Scientist)

“Methanol-powered artificial muscles have been created by researchers aiming to create battery-free robotic limbs and prosthetics.” (New Scientist)

“The methanol, stored in a fuel tank that weighs 95 milligrams when full, triggers an energy-releasing chemical reaction with oxygen that warps composite wire muscles to a preprogrammed shape. That twitching of the muscles allows the microrobot to crawl like a beetle. It is still able to move when carrying a cylindrical object weighing 230 milligrams on its horns – 2.6 times the weight of RoBeetle itself, or 1.3 times the weight of Robeetle and its fuel tank.” (New Scientist)

The next step the researchers are planning for “RoBeetle” is to give it a wing.

“The next step for RoBeetle? To grow wings, courtesy of funding from DARPA, the US Department of Defense’s research arm. “We want to create the first completely autonomous flying robot at beetle scale,”……” (New Scientist)

“Robots tend to be powered by batteries and plug sockets. But the RoBeetle is a little different. This insect-size microbot (defined as weighing less than 1 gram) runs on methanol, a type of alcohol commonly found in solvents and antifreeze. Liquid fuels like methanol hold more energy per unit volume than batteries, especially on a small scale. This means methanol-powered microbots don’t require an additional external power source, such as wires or electromagnetic fields. They could therefore theoretically move around with more autonomy than their electrically powered counterparts while retaining their minuscule size.” (Science Mag)

RoBettle ( image from New Scientist website)

RoBeetle Crawling ( image from Science Mag website)