HAMR-JR microrobot demonstrates dexterity

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Researchers in the US have used their so-called ‘pop-up manufacturing process’ to fabricate HAMR-JR, a microrobot that is as agile as its cockroach-inspired predecessor.

Developed by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Harvard Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, HAMR-JR is a half-scale version of HAMR (Harvard Ambulatory Microrobot).

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About the size of one cent coin, HAMR-JR can perform almost all the feats of HAMR, making it one of the most dexterous microrobots to date.

“Most robots at this scale are pretty simple and only demonstrate basic mobility,” said Kaushik Jayaram, a former postdoctoral fellow at SEAS and Wyss and first author of the paper. “We have shown that you don’t have to compromise dexterity or control for size.”

The research was presented virtually at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2020) this week.

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