Have The Strength of an Ox
Miniature robots, named “MicroTugs”, that are able to pull and lift objects more than 100 times their own weight have been developed by engineers at Stanford University. The strongest one of all weights 12 grams, but can pull objects 2,000 times heavier than itself. An equivalent would be a human dragging a blue whale. Another robot weighs 9 grams but can climb vertical walls hoisting items weighing over a kilogram – roughly comparable to a human carrying an elephant up the side of a building.
The strength comes from tiny rubber spikes covering the robots’ feet that bend when pressure is applied, increasing their surface area and thus their stickiness. When the robot lifts its foot, the spikes straighten out and easily detach from surfaces.
