La capacità degli scarafaggi di infilarsi in piccole crepe e muoversi molto rapidamente con particolari movimenti, ha ispirato la costruzione di un robot per la ricerca di persone sepolte sotto le macerie, in grado di entrare in tubazioni e strutture inaccessibili.
"Quello che è impressionante di questi scarafaggi è la loro capacità di correre veloci in uno spazio che va da soli 0,8 mm a 1,6 cm, orientando completamente le zampe anche in un solo lato del loro corpo", dice Kaushik Jayaram ricercatore della Harvard University e autore principale dello studio pubblicato lunedi dall'American Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Gli studiosi hanno notato che nello spazio aperto questi insetti misurano circa 3,7 centimetri, ma quando si muovono il loro corpo può ridursi a un quarto di centimetro. Hanno anche scoperto che questi insetti in grado di sopportare una forza equivalente a 900 volte il loro peso senza subire lesioni ed ispirandosi a questi, hanno progettato un piccolo, semplice e poco costoso robot che sta nel palmo della mano soprannominato CRAM.
AFP/sdr
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