  Elastically-driven motion has been used as a strategy to achieve high speeds
in small organisms and engineered micro-robotic devices. We examine the
size-scaling relations determining the limit of elastic energy release from
elastomer bands with mechanical properties similar to the biological protein
resilin. The maximum center-of-mass velocity of the elastomer bands was found
to be size-scale independent, while smaller bands demonstrated larger
accelerations and shorter durations of elastic energy release. Scaling
relationships determined from these measurements are consistent with the
performance of small organisms which utilize elastic elements to power motion.
Engineered devices found in the literature do not follow the same size-scaling
relationships, which suggests an opportunity for improved design of engineered
devices.
