Uploaded February 2016 | Updated September 2026, 8 hours ago

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Researchers at the University of California-Berkeley's Poly-PEDAL lab built a palm-sized robot that mimics the movements of a cockroach in order to squeeze through confined spaces. The aptly named CRAM (Compressible Robot with Articulated Mechanisms) robot sports a tough, yet bendable, shell and flexible legs that splay to the sides under pressure. The combination of features allows CRAM to squeeze through spaces only half its body height. Researchers say CRAM could serve as tool for rescue workers who search for survivors trapped in wreckage rife with cracks and crevices that pose barriers to rigid-bodied bots. They published their findings Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read the full story here: discovermagazine.com/technology/watch-robot-navigates-tight-spaces-like-a-cockroach

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Credit: Kaushik Jayaram/Robert Full/PolyPEDAL Lab/UC Berkeley
Kaushik Jayaram & Robert J. Full. Feb 2016. Cockroaches in crevices and confined spaces. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.113 (8) E950-E957; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1514591113

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