With either four or six legs, they will be the size of a large beetle. The bug's skeleton will be coated with a thin metal plate. Voltage from the battery will be applied to that plate, which bends when electricity is supplied and snaps back to original form when the voltage stops. The motion of the plate will make the bug's legs move. The technology is the same as that which makes a pager vibrate.
Soldiers are sort of blind beyond their line of site.
If the stride is a quarter of a millimeter, we won't get far. The professors hope to build a prototype by June. Make your own robot from a kit. Read more robot news stories. Buy robot books and toys.