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6 Tiny Robotic Ants, Weighing 3.5 Oz. In Total, Pull a 3900-lb. Car (nytimes.com)
Reader schwit1 writes about MicroTug, a team of six microrobots that weigh just 3.5 ounces (99 grams), and can move a car: Researchers at Standford University's Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Lab have developed six miniature robots that have the pulling-power to move objects 2,000 times of their own body weight. The tiny robots and their inter-coordination are based on that of ants. The microrobot uses a special kind of glue on its feet that make them serve as sticky gecko toes. "Their new demonstration is the functional equivalent of a team of six humans moving a weight equivalent to that of an Eiffel Tower and three Statues of Liberty," said David Christensen, a graduate student who is one of the authors of "Let's All Pull Together: Principles for Sharing Large Loads in Microrobot Teams paper. Researchers' fascination with gecko adhesive is nothing new. In 2010, Stanford mechanical engineer Mark Cutkosky developed a Stickybot that could climb walls. A
similar robot that could roll up on smooth as well rough surfaces was demonstrated by a group of researchers in Canada in 2011.
I was going to post something similar. I hate comparisons like these. The 'ants' are pulling against the rolling resistance of the car, not the car laying on its side, as would be the case with the tower equivalent weights. Unless you had some gigantic roller bearings to slide them across.
The car wasn't pulled
They made the car roll
Yes... by pulling it.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
We probably need a new system of units for explaining things to non-technical people:
1 car-pull (symbol Cp): ? newtons
1 football field us (Ff-US): 1000 yards
1 Blue Whale (Whb): 30 meters
Sun temperature (Tps): 5000C