Robots can have a lot of cool, practical applications. In fact, companies are utilizing robotics right now to make people’s lives better, everything from helping people with disabilities to get around to cars that can drive themselves. Then, of course, you have people developing robots that don’t seem to have much of a practical application just yet other than simply giving us all nightmares.
What this Jumping, crawling robot will be able to add to our quality of life doesn’t seem apparent at first, instead it’s simply kinda horrific. This is JumpRoACH, with the description reading as such; “A milli-scale height-adjustable jumping mechanism and its application to jumping crawling robot.” First off, it actually kinda looks like a cockroach, only a lot bigger, which makes it kind of disgusting. Then there’s the fact that it can spring itself up what is reportedly over five feet, self-righting itself before it can jump again or crawl around.
If you’ve ever had cockroaches you know that the real ones are kinda screwed if they end up on their backs, leaving them as easy prey for a paper towel or a smack from a flip flop. These mechanical ones, though? They can adjust themselves. There are probably some cool, practical uses for such a robot, but for now it’s just to remind us that technology is rapidly moving forward and that our nightmares might some day be a reality.
(via Mashable)