HAMR Microbots

Took early looks at very small and collaborative robotics.     And don't forget the very small is likely also disposable.   And is a sensor whose goals can be multi-tasked.

You Can't Touch Harvard's New Ambulatory MicroRobot  By Evan Ackerman in IEEE Spectrum
Because it's HAMR time!

One of the new and exciting things about HAMR in 2018 is the introduction of HAMR-F, which features onboard power and a first major step towards full autonomy. Previous versions of HAMR (we’ve written about some of them in the past) were mostly tethered and not particularly autonomous, which was okay, because Harvard was focusing on important stuff like manufacturing techniques and gait analysis. But to do practical things, you can’t very well run a very long electrical cord and stand there with a remote control all the time, can you? Or, you can, I guess, but nobody will take you very seriously if you do.

HAMR-F is 4.5 centimeters long and weighs just 2.8 grams, and it can zip along at up to 17.2 cm/s, or just under 4 body lengths per second. This is over 300 percent faster than the previous off-tether version of HAMR, and only a little bit slower than the tethered version, which is impressive. HAMR-F also features upgrades that “leverage advances in manufacturing, sensing, and energy storage to seamlessly integrate the electrical and mechanical components on HAMR.” An improved powertrain increases its robustness, and also gives the robot the ability to move much more dynamically, enabling aerial-phase motion, including everyone’s favorite gait, the pronk.  .... "