A springtail-like jumping robot: Diminutive device can leap 23 times its body length

Springtails, small bugs often found crawling through leaf litter and garden soil, are expert jumpers. Inspired by these hopping hexapods, roboticists at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have made a walking, jumping robot that pushes the boundaries of what small robots can do.