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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

New Atlas [newatlas.com]:

It's tricky to routinely inspect jet engines and other machines without taking them apart, which is a costly and time-consuming process. Now, a team at Harvard's Wyss Institute has developed small, insect-like robots that can climb inside and through machines to inspect them, saving the trouble of pulling them apart if there's nothing that needs fixing.

The robots are based on the team's previous creation, which they call the Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot (HAMR). These small, four-legged robots scurry around like insects, and a more recent version gained the ability to walk across the surface of water.

The latest model has been named HAMR-E, where the E stands for Electro-adhesion. To climb vertical surfaces and cling upside down, the robots have new footpads that stick to the metallic surfaces through electrostatic forces. The pads are made of a polyimide-insulated copper electrode, and the robots can switch the electric field off to lift each foot off the surface, before turning it back on when it takes the next step. These pads are also flexible, so as to let the bots climb curved surfaces – a handy skill, inside a jet engine.

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