title: BIOMECHANICS. Jumping on water: Surface tension-dominated jumping of water striders and robotic insects.
abstract: Jumping on water is a unique locomotion mode found in semi-aquatic arthropods, such as water striders. To reproduce this feat in a surface tension-dominant jumping robot, we elucidated the hydrodynamics involved and applied them to develop a bio-inspired impulsive mechanism that maximizes momentum transfer to water. We found that water striders rotate the curved tips of their legs inward at a relatively low descending velocity with a force just below that required to break the water surface (144 millinewtons/meter). We built a 68-milligram at-scale jumping robotic insect and verified that it jumps on water with maximum momentum transfer. The results suggest an understanding of the hydrodynamic phenomena used by semi-aquatic arthropods during water jumping and prescribe a method for reproducing these capabilities in artificial systems.
authors.affiliation: Biorobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. hyk@snu.ac.kr kjcho@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Je-Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.affiliation: Micro Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. hyk@snu.ac.kr kjcho@snu.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eunjin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Biorobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Gwang-Pil
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Biorobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Sun-Pill
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Hak
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Son
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Im
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Behavioral Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea. Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw 00-679, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Jablonski
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Micro Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Ho-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Biorobotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea. Institute of Advanced Machines and Design, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-744, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyu-Jin
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005121:Extremities / Q000502:physiology; D020062:Heteroptera / Q000502:physiology*; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008124:Locomotion; D012371:Robotics; D012399:Rotation; D013500:Surface Tension; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water