A robot that walks on water

A research team led by Carnegie Mellon assistant professor Metin Sitti has built a tiny robot that can walk on water, much like insects known as water skimmers, water skaters, pond skaters or Jesus bugs.

For now, Sitti's robot is little more than a half-inch boxy-body made from carbon fibers and eight, 2-inch steel-wire legs coated with a water-repelling plastic.

It also doesn't have a brain, any sensors or a battery. Its "muscles" are three flat-plate piezoelectric actuators - special pieces of metal that change shape when electricity is run through them. The actuators are powered by wires and controlled by three circuits connected to a power supply.

But it can stand on water - it doesn't float - and can skim backward and forward, propelling itself with two legs that act like oars.

The water-skimming robot could monitor water supplies for contamination or other toxins when fitted with a chemical sensor; with a camera it could be a spy or an explorer; with a net or a boom, it could skim contaminants off the top of water.

From Silicon Valley.