SMRTR Science & EngineeringMar 2, 2026Interesting Engineering

Light-powered soft robot jumps 188 times without motor, carries 1,700x its weight

SMRTR summary

Engineers created a tiny robot that jumps 188 times continuously using only light power, with no batteries, motors, or electronics. The robot uses liquid crystal elastomers that bend when illuminated, store energy, then snap to propel jumping while automatically resetting through self-shadowing, and can carry 1,700 times its weight for potential wildfire monitoring applications.

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