Engineers turn a dead spider into a robot

Here is an experience not recommended for both arachnophobes and arachnophiles. A team of engineers from the Preston Innovation Laboratory at Rice University, Texas, released a statement claiming the creation of what they called a necrobot, otherwise known as a dead-robot, made from the corpse of a spider found in their lab. Fascinated by its curled up legs, researchers looked into how it works and discovered that its eight very powerful limbs are operated by the equivalent of a hydraulic system. A real revelation for these engineers who hastened to draw the most obvious concrete application, at least in their eyes: transforming dead spiders into hydraulic grippers.

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By blowing air through a needle inserted into the animal’s body, they were able to activate its legs, grab small objects and activate the switch of an electrical circuit. To test its resistance, they even folded and unfolded the limbs more than 1000 times in a row without noticing any noticeable wear of the mechanism.

For Daniel Preston, director of the Preston Innovation Laboratory, this experiment could have very useful outlets: necrobots would be able “to perform repetitive tasks such as sorting or moving objects on small scales, and perhaps even assembling microelectronic elements. Entomologists would also see an advantage in using this zombie spider to trick and capture insects. Finally, he concludes, this robot spider, unlike metal or plastic tools, is perfectly biodegradable. Arguments more or less exciting which will perhaps expand in the future. Or not.