Robotics

Click beetle-inspired robots jump using elastic energy

Researchers have made a significant leap forward in developing insect-sized jumping robots capable of performing tasks in the small spaces often found in mechanical, agricultural and search-and-rescue settings.

Robotics

'Butterfly bot' is fastest swimming soft robot yet

Inspired by the biomechanics of the manta ray, researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an energy-efficient soft robot that can swim more than four times faster than previous swimming soft robots. The ...

Robotics

Next-generation cockroach-inspired robot is small but mighty

This itsy-bitsy robot can't climb up the waterspout yet but it can run, jump, carry heavy payloads and turn on a dime. Dubbed HAMR-JR, this microrobot developed by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering ...

Robotics

New robot swims and jumps like a Chinese rice grasshopper

Biologist, materials scientist and bionics specialist Professor Stanislav N. Gorb and his team at Kiel University's Institute of Zoology are known for analyzing the spectacular abilities of animals and translating them into ...