Micro force plate array for measurement of ground reaction force of insect running

This paper reports on a micro force plate array for measurement of ground reaction forces of insect legs during running. The micro force plate is composed of a plate base and three beams whose surface and sidewall area are doped, which enable to detect both pressure and shear force. The device size and force resolution are 2000 μm × 500 μm × 20 μm (length × width × height) and 1 μN, respectively. Using this force plate array, the ground reaction forces of an ant was able to be measured.