Technology as known to mankind today takes inspiration from the modern day life and ends up with gadgets that simplify the routine. In an interesting turn of events, Harvard Scientists, in association with Seoul University (North Korea), have developed a unique robotic insect that can walk on water.

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According to Immortal, the expert researchers at Harvard University have developed a robotic insect that can walk on water. Inspired by the biology of a real insect known as the water strider, this robotic creature mimics the style of the insect and is able to walk on water.

It is said that those developing the robotic creature invested time and effort to go through hundreds of videos of the water strider to get an idea about the body basics, and understand its ability to walk on the surface of the water.

The biological insect is able to walk on water simply because it exerts maximum force just below the threshold point to keep the surface tension from breaking. Using the latest in technology, researchers have successfully understood and adapted this technique in the robotic insect as well. Surprisingly, the insect is known to exert sixteen times more force, as compared to its body weight. The successful accomplishment of this experiment is yet another example of how technology takes inspiration from Mother Nature to create unique gadgets.

Meanwhile, an official report on Harvard's site confirms the success of the experiment saying that it was a part of their biologically-inspired engineering projects. Another report on Engadget also confirmed the development saying that this project would pave way for more work that is expected to assist water based research and rescue operations.

The researchers said that the key to the success of the robotic insects jump on the surface of water is to ensure that the robotic device has contact with the surface of water for the maximum duration of time, during the jump. The insect was developed using torque reversal catapult mechanism as is revealed in the research published. 

TagsHarvard Science Projects, Harvard scientists, Harvard University