Bug-catching robots power themselves

摘要

ROBOTS that mimic the Venus flytrap could run on live insects and spiders, snatching and digesting them for fuel. Now two protoypes have been developed that employ smart materials to rapidly ensnare their prey. Venus flytraps (Dionaea muscipula) catch insects using two specially adapted leaves. When a bug lands it brushes tiny hairs on the surface, triggering the trapping mechanism. The leaves snap shut in a mere 100 milliseconds, and the plant kills and digests its quarry. Recreating this method means finding materials that can not only detect the presence of an insect but also close on it quickly. At Seoul National University in South Korea, Seung-Won Kim and colleagues have done this using shape memory materials. These switch between two stable shapes when subjected to force, heat or an electric current.