Important Innovations

Microrobots with Controlled Flight Source:  Harvard University Search & Rescue Missions Harvard's RoboBees are the first microbots powered by soft actuators to achieve controlled flight. They have soft artificial muscles that enable them to survive crashes and collisions making them perfect for search and rescue missions in dangerous, cluttered environments. The robobees are so sturdy, dexterous and resilient they can even crash into a wall or collide with another robobee without any damage. Hoverbots The tiny robots are equipped with actuators made from dielectric elastomers that deform when hit with an electrical current.  The actuators are soft and the Harvard team says they're easily assembled and scaled up.  Unlike other drones made with soft actuators, the robobees have enough power density to hover in place. Going for Commercialization The Harvard team has created a number of models including one with 8 wings and 4 actuators that can

Tiny, Elastic Microrobots to Deliver Targeted Drug Therapies Source:  EPFL Breakthrough Robotic Innovation from Switzerland Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) and ETH Zurich have developed very smart, highly flexible microrobots.  They can change shape depending on their surroundings . For Targeted Drug Therapy Delivery The tiny robots are modeled on microorganisms like bacteria that change shape as their surrounding conditions change.  They are fully biocompatible.  The bots optimize their movements in order to get to hard to reach places in the human body.  They're thought to have the potential to revolutionize targeted drug delivery. Nanocomposites and Nanoparticles The bots are made of hydrogel nanocomposites.  They contain magnetic nanoparticles allowing them to be controlled by an electromagnetic field.  They are so tiny and flexible they're able to swim through narrow blood vessels, arrive at the target and deliver drug thera

Harvard's Robot Climber with Sticky Feet Source:  Wyss Institute's Microrobot HAMR-E HAMR-E on Duty for Jet Engine Safety Inspections It's a tiny but mighty micro-robot named HAMR-E (Harvard Ambulatory Micro-Robot Electroadhesion).  It's been developed by researchers at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. They've created a micro-robot with incredible climbing ability.  It has electroadhesive foot pads, origami ankle joints and an optimized gait to explore spaces in 3-D, vertically and upside down. Gecko Inspired Rolls Royce challenged the Wyss Institute to develop an army of micro-robots to inspect their Rolls Royce engines for commercial aircraft.  Commercial jet engines have 25,000 parts, many of which aren't accessible until you pull fully dismantle the engine.  That is very expensive and time-consuming.  Enter HAMR-E from Harvard. Future for this Innovation The potential is that an army of HAMR-E micro-robots c

Micro-Robots to Diagnose and Deliver Drug Therapies Micro-Robotic Medicine Micro-Robotic Medicine An international team of researchers, led by the University of Edinburgh, has developed micro-robots that can soon be used to diagnose disease and deliver drug therapies to hard-to-reach areas of the human body. Harmlessly Biodegradable  The robots are tiny pieces of algae coated with magnetic particles.  They can smoothly swim in biological fluid like blood.  They harmlessly biodegrade with precise timing within the body to deliver potent drug therapies to specifically targeted disease areas. Remotely Guided and Trackable The robots are the size of a blood cell.  Scientists guide them magnetically to desired locations.  They've been successfully tested in the stomachs of lab animals.  The micro-robots are easily tracked by imaging and MRI's. Initial Results Very Promising The robots successfully attacked targeted cancer cells.  They also diagnosed chemical change