A frame-amplified jumping robot capable of fast response and self-righting

Traditional jumping robots excel at high-load and large-scope operations but expose shortcomings in system complexity, fabrication economy, and interaction security. As a potential alternative to address these issues, jumping robots consisting of various soft actuators have garnered widespread attention from researchers. Previous works have demonstrated that electro-hydraulic actuators (EHAs) have superior characteristics, thus enabling robots to achieve rapid, continuous, and steered jumping. However, the existing EHA-based jumping robots still have limitations in their obstacle-crossing performance and are unable to autonomously reset after capsizing, which prevents them from operating continuously in challenging terrains. Here, we present a tethered EHA-based frame-amplified jumping robot (FAJR) optimized by an iterative design method and a frame-offset design method. This 52 mm-diameter and 10 mm-thick FAJR can take off within 5.8 ms, vertically jump with a jumping height of up to 64.1 mm, forward jump with a jumping distance of up to 49 mm, continuously jump with a speed of 36.2 mm s−1, and somersault to achieve self-righting after capsizing. Furthermore, the FAJR is demonstrated to cross a cube obstacle with a side length of 50 mm. This work is expected to push the boundaries of obstacle-crossing and fault-tolerant operations for EHA-based jumping robots in unstructured environments, while also providing a feasible approach for the posture control and adjustment after take-off for structurally simple soft jumping robots. © 2025 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.