VIDEO: CRAWLING ROBOT THAT IS POWERED BY LIGHT!

Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology and Kent State University have developed a material that could make locomotion a much simpler affair, all these new polymer needs is a beam of light and it gets going. 

The new material is a polymer, a long chain of repeating molecules, in this case, the polymer contains light-sensitive crystals that change shape in response to certain wavelengths of light.  a violet LED is used to power the polymer's motion and that wavelength of light has more energy than others and it is enough to cause the liquid crystals to instantaneously deform. The researchers envision it being used to transport small objects into tight spaces, 'small' is a relative term here, and they still have a long way to go, they found it could actually carry an object several times more massive than the polymer itself. 

The polymer could also be used to maintain solar cells, crawling along to sweep dust and debris off the panel and keep it at maximum efficiency. The new polymer is still experimental and could eventually lead to a new class of slithering machines that do not require a lot of power or complicated components.