Bug-size robots that fly and flip could pollinate futuristic farms’ crops

Bug-size robots that fly and flip could pollinate futuristic farms’ crops

Tiny flying robots could perform such useful tasks as pollinating crops inside multilevel warehouses, boosting yields while mitigating some of agriculture’s harmful impacts on the environment. The latest robo-bug from an MIT lab, inspired by the anatomy of the bee, comes closer to matching nature’s performance than ever before.  Led by Kevin Chen, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the sen…

Harvard RoboBee's New Crane Fly Legs Are the Landing Gear It Was Missing

Harvard’s Microrobotics Lab has developed a RoboBee, a miniature drone designed to mimic real insects like bees and flies. The Microrobotics Lab has been working on the Robobee for years, but it wasn’t until the team took some inspiration from the crane fly that the project finally started coming together, as the insect’s anatomy made it perfect for landing the tiny robot. Harvard engineers realized crane flies don’t crash and burn every single …

Se questo micro-drone ti ronzasse sull’orecchio, lo noteresti?

Accendono la bobina, il campo magnetico si accende e quell’aggeggio comincia a planare; niente eliche rumorose, solo un bagliore d’aria che potremmo confondere con polvere spinta da una finestra. Un micro-drone. Sissignori. Appena sviluppato a Berkeley. Lo studio che lo presenta, è stato pubblicato da poco su Science Advances. Se vi chiedete perché non l’abbiamo sentito arrivare, la risposta è banale: il rumore è proporzionale alla massa, e qui …

Imagine a robot the size of a bee capable of posing accurately on a flower, as if it were another insect in the ecosystem. It may sound like science fiction, but it is exactly the objective of RoboBee, a microrobot developed by the Harvard University team. And although it seemed like a distant dream for years, a new breakthrough has brought it closer to its potential in the real world: now it can land without falling or breaking. Until recently,…

RoboBee gains insect-inspired legs for stable landings

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025 Harvard's RoboBee, already renowned for its agile aerial maneuvers, has now been equipped with a biologically inspired landing system modeled after the crane fly. Developed by the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory, the upgraded micro-robot features articulated limbs and enhanced control software to ensure smoother, safer touchdowns. This breakthrough, reported in Science Robotics, marks a

Harvard's RoboBee Micro Robot Gets Upgraded with Crane Fly-Inspired Legs, Could Be Used for Disaster Surveillance

Photo credit: Harvard Harvard’s RoboBee is an amazing micro-robot, and its special design as well as abilities make it a standout in the world of miniature robotics, especially with its new legs inspired by crane flies. Made by the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory, led by Professor Robert Wood, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, [...]