Robotic Flea Leaps 87x Its Own Length

This article is part of our exclusive IEEE Journal Watch series in partnership with IEEE Xplore.

Although fleas are annoying pests, credit must be given where it’s due. These tiny creatures that are just 3 millimeters long can leap as far as 330 millimeters in a single hop—a distance that is close to 100 times their own body length. Now, a similar feat has been achieved by a miniature robot. The results were published 24 March in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

“We were inspired by fleas in nature, which despite their small size, can unleash tremendous potential and jump close…