Inspiration from nature always brings interesting innovations and in this case it comes from a species of insect that uses feathery fans on its feet to dance at absurd speeds.

In nature they reach 120 body lengths per second, the idea now left the “bug” and entered engineering. Researchers from Berkeley, Ajou in Korea, and Georgia Tech unraveled the microarchitecture of those fans with electron microscopy and found that each has a flexible central ribbon with feather-like side fins and more.

What opens the fan is not the muscle, it is the surface tension of the water, with that and hands they built the Rhagobot, an 8x10 centimeter robot and Fans of 10 to 5 mm with 1 microgram each, total weight of 0.2 grams with power cable that in the future will be replaced by wireless power.

The Rhagobot already moves at two body lengths per second in the sheet of water and makes 90º turns in 0.5 seconds, the artificial fans self-transform themselves, underwater they open and grab water like an oar, when they come out the bristles gather in a wet brush-type tip, reducing drag for the next stroke, it is mechanical intelligence.

Shape and physics solve part of the control, this type of technology is used for light swarms for environmental monitoring in long and mangrove swamps, sampling dangerous conditions, searching for oil spill points and even inspecting shallow structures where propellers become entangled.

Clearly it is still a laboratory prototype with power via cable and tests under controlled conditions, the speed is still well below that of the insect, it needs to be validated in wind, current and real autonomy, even so, the correct form plus correct physical recipe is a promising shortcut for microrobots that operate where ships and drones fail.