2026-09-23 ワシントン大学（UW）
DirectHop, a 1-gram hopping robot developed at the University of Washington, leaps off of a tabletop. Unlike more common spring-loaded hopping bots, DirectHop is powered directly by a tiny motor, allowing it to precisely vary its jump height. Photo: Mark Stone/University of Washington
＜関連情報＞
- https://www.washington.edu/news/2026/09/23/directhop-hopping-robot/
- https://faculty.washington.edu/minster/files/wang_talwekar_fuller_directhop_iros2026.pdf
DirectHop：ジャンプの高さを制御し、自力で立ち直ることができる、昆虫サイズのダイレクトドライブ型ロボット DirectHop: A Direct-Drive Insect-Sized Robot that can Control Jump Height and Self-Right
Hanquan Wang1, Yash P. Talwekar1, Sawyer B. Fulle
Sept 30th at the International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
Abstract
Insect-scale jumping robots are low-cost, agile, and have the potential to be powered by harvested energy. To date, most electrically powered jumping robots actuate by releasing a spring. However, the increased jump height enabled by springs is not needed for many applications, and it increases complexity. Direct actuation, on the other hand, allows jump distance to be easily controlled, mimicking the versatility of many larger biological jumpers. Here we present DirectHop, a 1.0 g, 50 mm robot inspired by this principle. It uses a coreless direct current (DC) motor, pulley, and micromachined carbon fiber composite sarrus linkage to directly actuate its jump. We show that jump height can be precisely and repeatedly controlled, allowing for more precise location control. With a 45→ ramp under the foot, it can surmount a standard 17 cm high stair step, which makes it suitable for mobility in urban environments. DirectHop self-rights with a 90% first-try success rate using a process mediated by a roll cage and active retraction. This has enabled up to four sequential jumps. The upper bound of electromechanical efficiency is 39.0%, giving a projected 18 J/m/kg Cost of Transport (CoT) using the mean center of mass (CoM) height. This is nearly two orders of magnitude lower than flying robots, the only other class of robots at this scale capable of climbing stairs.
