Experimental research on locomotion characters of water strider and movement realization on a water strider robot

Abstract

Water strider can slide agilely on water surface at high speed. To study its locomotion characters, movements of water strider are recorded by a high speed camera. The trajectories and angle variations of water strider leg are obtained from the photo series, and provide basic information for bionic robot design. Thus a water strider robot based on surface tension is proposed. The driving mechanism is designed to replicate the trajectory of water strider's middle leg.