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AnonTechie [soylentnews.org] writes:

Six robot ants, weighing a total of 3.5 oz (99.2 gm), have managed to pull a 3,900-lb (1,769-kg) car by mimicking the behavior of wild ants and using a few other tricks of nature. The mighty miniature machines, dubbed Microtugs, are the brainchild of boffins at the Biomimetics and Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory at Stanford University. Their feat is the equivalent of six humans taking the Eiffel Tower and three Statues of Liberty for a drag.

The team got the idea by observing ants working together to pull large object in the wild. Ants are capable of lifting 100 times their own weight. To haul large loads, they form into long chains and synchronize their footsteps to exert a steady, powerful force. "By considering the dynamics of the team, not just the individual, we are able to build a team of our 'Microtug' robots that, like ants, are super strong individually, but then also work together as a team," team member David Christensen told The New York Times [nytimes.com].

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/15/robot_ants_pull_car/ [theregister.co.uk]

[Video Link]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU8Q7gIdiMI [youtube.com]

[Abstract]: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=7407333&contentType=Early+Access+Articles [ieee.org]

Original Submission