Small and Dexterous Cockroach-Inspired Robot

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The HAMR-JR microrobot is a half-scale version of the cockroach-inspired Harvard Ambulatory Microrobot (HAMR). About the size of a penny, HAMR-JR can perform almost all of the feats of its larger-scale predecessor, making it one of the most dexterous microrobots to date.

This research was focused on whether or not the pop-up manufacturing process used to build previous versions of HAMR and other microbots, including the RoboBee, could be used to build robots at multiple scales from tiny surgical bots to large-scale industrial robots.

PC-MEMS (printed circuit microelectromechanical systems) is a fabrication process in which the robot’s components are etched into a 2D sheet and then popped out in its 3D structure. To build HAMR-JR, the researchers simply shrunk the 2D sheet design of the robot — along with the actuators and onboard circuitry — to recreate a smaller robot with all the same functionalities.

HAMR-JR measures 2.25 centimeters in body length and weighs about 0.3 gram, a fraction of the weight of a penny. It can run about 14 body lengths per second, making it one of the smallest and fastest microrobots.

For more information, contact Leah Burrows at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; 617-496-1351.