Robots and tiny boats could soon move on water like how beetle larvae do. This new propulsion system is meant for small crafts used for monitoring water quality in oceans and other large bodies of water. Mimicking the movements of beetle larvae was the idea of Sung Kwon Cho from Pitt's Swanson School of Engineering.

The resulting system has no moving parts and hence is low-powered, requires little maintenance and is efficient. Beetle larvae can rest without sinking at the surface of the water because of the tension; to move, it bends its body downwards and the forward pull propels its movement. The same mechanism was applied to the Pitt propulsion system, with the body bending replaced by an electric pulse.

For videos of the tiny boat using the larvae-inspired propeller, check out PhysOrg.