Biomimetic
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No matter how good we humans have made something, chances are nature did it better. Rather than compete, scientists have now tapped into a natural sensor with the Smellicopter, a drone that uses an antenna from a live moth to sniff out its targets.
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By getting up close and personal with the intricate mechanics of bird flight, scientists continue to unlock secrets that can aid in their pursuit of advanced aerodynamics, and that may include aircraft that generate a lot less noise.
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Scientists in Australia have developed a jelly-like material with many of the properties of living tissue. A form of a hydrogel, it is self-healing, very strong and can change its shape – allowing it to mimic skin, ligaments, and bone.
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Combining suction cups and shower hoses, robotics researchers have created a wall-climbing robot said to be inspired by one of nature's congenital suckers: the leech. They're calling it a "world's first achievement in developing soft and flexible robot that is capable of free movement on a wall."
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Scientists at Tel Aviv University have used the impressive echolocation abilities of bats as inspiration for a new robot, which is able to use ultrasound to autonomously navigate through an environment.
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We’re still a long way from having robots blend seamlessly into our society. But apparently fish are easier to fool, since a team from EPFL has successfully integrated a robotic impostor into schools of zebrafish, to the point where the robot could guide the group’s behavior.
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The robotics researchers at Switzerland's École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have produced some truly impressive (and creepy) animal-inspired droids over the years. Behold the latest, a robotic eel built to snake through contaminated water to find the source of the pollution.
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One problem with teaching robots to walk over uneven terrain is that what works in one setting may not fly in another. One solution would be to have the robot teach itself as it goes, which is exactly the approach researchers at Arizona State University have taken with their so-called C-Turtle.
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After a quick introduction yesterday, we take a closer look at Festo's OctopusGripper, a versatile gripper for the production line of tomorrow. The Future Concepts robot has been designed to safely pick up, securely hold and gently put down objects in the workplace.
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The Bionic Learning Network arm of German automation company Festo has revealed three bio-inspired robots ahead of the Hannover Messe trade fair in April, a tentacle-packing pick and pack gripper and two lightweight robots designed for fluid movement.
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In designing robots, engineers often turn to nature for inspiration and can sometimes improve on the skills evolution has bestowed upon our fellow creatures. That's the case with new research that has determined a better way to move a six-legged robot, making it faster than its wild counterpart.
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Employing dual oscillating blades that mimic the figure-8 motion of the wings of a hovering hummingbird, Tyer Wind's new and quirky turbine has a compact design that's a potential fit for residential use.
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