Wyss Institute

We've watched with interest as subsequent developments have allowed RoboBee to fly, swim, hover, perch and lose its tether. Now it's become the first microrobot to achieve controlled flight using soft artificial muscles.

Researchers have developed ultra-gentle robotic grippers that can grasp and release jellyfish and other very soft marine animals without harming them.

​Wearable mobility robots can be big and heavy, but they have the potential to help those who can't move to walk again or make light work of heavy objects. Harvard's Wyss Institute has revealed a soft exosuit that's lightweight and portable, and can provide both walking and running assistance.​

Slapping on a Band-Aid is the easiest way to help a cut on your skin heal, but things aren’t so simple for internal wounds. Now, researchers from Harvard have developed spray-on hydrogels, produced by bacteria, that can help heal these internal wounds.

A patient’s immune system can often react badly to bone marrow transplants. Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) may help, but they too can be cleared out by immune cells. Now, a Harvard team has shown that coating MSCs in a thin hydrogel can protect them, making bone marrow transplants more successful.

​Driven into the ground, interlocking metal plates known as sheet piles can keep soil from eroding after rainfall, they can serve as retaining walls on slopes, or perform other functions. Installing them is a laborious process, though, which is why scientists have created a robot to do the job.

A Harvard team has developed small, insect-like robots that can climb inside machines to inspect them, saving the trouble of pulling them apart if there’s nothing that needs fixing.

Water filters can get dirty and lose their effectiveness quickly. Now researchers have tested a new nature-inspired membrane that filters liquids using other liquids, making for a more efficient and longer-lasting membrane.

Wyss Institute's forays into soft robots have borne more ripe fruit in the shape of a soft robotic arm fit for use on submarines to handle delicate marine life like coral and jellyfish. This isn't the Harvard institute's first, but its latest iteration moves with "unprecedented dexterity."

A team of scientists at Harvard’s Wyss Institute has just presented its latest creation in the field of robotic exoskeletons, a fully wearable soft exosuit that automatically tweaks its level of assistance on the fly. ​

If robots are ever going to work alongside humans in the real world, they're going to need a softer touch. Harvard researchers have developed a new method for producing small-scale squishy robots, and demonstrated it by creating a flexible robotic peacock spider, driven by a microfluidics system.

It's difficult to study how the heart reacts to diseases and medications. Researchers at Harvard have now grown a model of a human left ventricle that spontaneously beats, marking a substantial step towards engineering entire hearts for more accurate testing of new treatments.