Snapping elastic rods let frog-like robot outrun rigid legs on six terrains

Roboticists at UCLA Samueli and the University of Michigan showed that elastic rods can be bent and twisted to repeatedly snap between shapes, releasing stored energy so small robots can hop, flip and swim. The design outperformed rigid-legged robots across six terrain types.

• Elastic rods snap between shapes, storing and releasing energy
• The frog-like robot can hop, flip and swim
• It outperforms rigid legs across six terrain types
• Work by UCLA Samueli and the University of Michigan