MIT’s Thumb‑Sized Hopper: Small Robot, Big Leap

This little dynamo—smaller than a human thumb and lighter than a paperclip—combines a springy leg and four flapping wings to hop across tricky terrains with energy‑saving finesse. It can leap roughly four times its height (about 20 cm high), cruise at 30 cm/s, and tackle uneven ground, slippery surfaces, or even land on a drone—all while using about 60% less energy than a similarly sized flying robot. Plus, its hopping efficiency lets it haul payloads up to ten times heavier than itself, paving the way for real-world rescue missions or remote exploration with sensors, circuits, and batteries aboard.

“Being able to put batteries, circuits, and sensors on board has become much more feasible with a hopping robot than a flying one. Our hope is that one day this robot could go out of the lab and be useful in real-world scenarios,” says Yi-Hsuan (Nemo) Hsiao  , an MIT graduate student and co-lead author of a paper on the hopping robot.