Bio-inspired Robotics

Researchers at EPFL have unveiled an innovative robot bird that blends terrestrial and aerial locomotion through advanced physics and engineering principles. Inspired by the biomechanics of avian species, it features lightweight, robust materials and multifunctional legs that store and release energy efficiently, enabling powerful jumps for rapid takeoffs. These legs are modeled to mimic the spring-like motion of tendons and muscles, leveraging principles of elastic potential energy to convert stored energy into kinetic energy during liftoff. This allows for faster, more energy-efficient flight initiation compared to traditional propeller-driven systems, which rely on continuous motor operation to achieve lift. The robot also integrates advanced aerodynamics for stable flight, utilizing biomimetic wing designs that optimize lift-to-drag ratios. Its ability to walk and hop over obstacles stems from precision actuators and sensors that calculate optimal force and trajectory, ensuring smooth transitions between ground and air mobility. These features make it highly adaptive to complex terrains, from rocky landscapes to dense forests, where conventional drones and robots would struggle. Future prospects for this #technology are promising. Its multi-modal capabilities could be applied in search-and-rescue missions, where navigating through collapsed structures or dense vegetation requires both ground movement and aerial maneuverability. In planetary exploration, it could traverse rugged terrains on Mars or the Moon, combining the efficiency of walking with the flexibility of flight. Further advancements may include incorporating solar-powered systems for extended autonomy, swarm robotics for collaborative tasks, and machine learning algorithms to enhance decision-making and obstacle avoidance. This groundbreaking #design not only bridges the gap between terrestrial and aerial robotics but also sets the stage for a new era of versatile, energy-efficient robotic systems capable of tackling a wide range of environmental and industrial challenges. 🎥@EPFL Video rights are reserved for the respective owner. #innovation #whatinspiresme

Scientists from ETH and Cambridge University have unveiled a new class of musculoskeletal robots that blend soft and rigid structures, using only a single 3D-printed material. They are inspired by biological systems like elephant trunks and limbs. By geometrically blending and superimposing basic lattice units, researchers can fine-tune stiffness and anisotropy to mimic tissues ranging from soft muscles to rigid bones. The result is a tendon-driven elephant-inspired robot featuring a flexible, continuously deformable trunk and sturdy, jointed legs. The trunk performs twisting, bending, and helical motions using minimal actuators, while the legs support dynamic walking and even environmental interaction. Nature’s a great teacher!

Insect-like drones that tend crops, perform aircraft inspections and find gas leaks are HERE … and they’re only the beginning! Thrilled to visit Prof Guido De Croon at MAVLab TU Delft in The Netherlands. Guido is one of my favorite scientists. He’s happy, positive, and bursting with ideas to help industry — and it’s infectious! Ever since we first connected in 2021 I’ve had fun featuring MAVLab’s tiny drones in my presentations because they ‘push the limits’ of bio-inspiration, an approach that will continue to unlock new opportunities for decades. It’s the stuff of sci-fi, except … it isn’t. MAVLab creations flap their wings, carry sensors that facilitate ‘event-based’ decisions much like eyes, ears and brains do in the natural world, emulate the navigation strategies of bees and ants, swarm to accomplish collective goals and more. The biggest takeaway for me by far: the future of drones is bio-inspired AT EVERY LEVEL. 🦋 Morphology -- Flapping wing configurations make drones more agile, safer to be around, able to glide and soar on updrafts and fly further like birds and insects do. 👁️ Sensors -- Onboard cameras, microphones, other sensors are becoming neuromorphic to achieve powerful sensing using orders of magnitude less energy. 🧠 Processing -- On-board processing and decision-making is becoming neuromorphic. Together, neuromorphic sensing + processing yield lower energy use, longer range, smaller sizes and ultrafast event-triggered speed and agility (how MAVLab won the 2025 drone racing championships!) 🐝 Algorithms -- How high, how to land, how to perch, how to navigate, how to return – for every task, nature’s ultra-efficient ‘algorithms’ are there to find and emulate. 🪰 Energy Harvesting -- drones that find and ride updrafts to extend flight time/range, and also to charge batteries by role-switching propellers into generators. 🐜 Cooperation -- Ants and bees accomplish vastly more as teams. MAVLab drones already work in swarms for gas detection, exploration, search. There is so much more to be learned! Never has a bioanalogous robot future been articulated to me quite so comprehensively, component-by-component, layer-by-layer, as it has in this visit! 🎧+📝 Listen to the conversation + read my post-conversation reflections, explore examples, spinout companies, videos, plus full transcript: https://lnkd.in/eNt5iQmM 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ejMHvcvj 🎧 Listen on Apple podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eGCT2gTs And please share to help make more connections between industry people and the wonderful scientists at MAVLab. Thank you Guido De Croon, for your joy-filled insights on the future of tiny drones. And my thanks also to Dequan Ou, for showing me around the incredible MAVLab and patiently answering my many questions!

“In an age of increasingly advanced robotics, one team has well and truly bucked the trend, instead finding inspiration within the pinhead-sized brain of a tiny flying insect in order to build a robot that can deftly avoid collisions with very little effort and energy expenditure. An insect's tiny brain is an unlikely source of biomimicry, but researchers from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and Bielefeld University in Germany believed it was an ideal system to apply to how robots move. Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) possess remarkably simple but effective navigational skills, using very little brainpower to swiftly travel along invisible straight lines, then adjusting accordingly – flying in a line angled to the left or the right – to avoid obstacles. With such a tiny brain, the fruit fly has limited computational resources available to it while in flight – a biological model, the scientists believed, that could be adapted to use in the 'brain' of a robot for efficient, low-energy and obstacle-avoiding locomotion. "Like when you’re on a train," said physicist Elisabetta Chicca, from the University of Groningen. "The trees nearby appear to move faster than the houses far away. Insects use this information to infer how far away things are. "What we learn from this is: if you don’t have enough resources, you can simplify the problem with your behavior," she added. In fruit flies' brains, the motion of surrounding objects is processed through the optical neurons T4 and T5. With the help of Bielefeld University neurobiologist Martin Egelhaaf, the team algorithmically mimicked this neural activity in their small robot 'brain', giving it the ability to process directional information to move efficiently and avoid collisions with any obstacles in its path.” https://lnkd.in/gBxaNZAz

WVU NSF-funded REU site in Robotics Research for Rural Appalachian Environments project feature. A PID Controller for Efficient Position and Stiffness Control of a Bio-Inspired Actuator Undergraduate Researcher: Callum Lorimer Faculty Advisor: Nicholas Szczecinski YouTube Link: https://lnkd.in/gXMdnZFY Abstract: Current legged robots struggle to maintain their posture and perform coordinated movements in an energy efficient manner, limiting their applications across complex terrains and industrial settings. To address this problem, we draw inspiration from animals, which coordinate activity of slow, intermediate, and fast muscle fibers with distinct neural and mechanical properties for efficient control of their joints’ stiffness and movement. Slow muscle fibers set the stiffness and resting position of the joint, while stronger intermediate and fast muscle fibers are activated in parallel during large-scale movements. We have constructed a MuJoCo model of a series elastic actuator based on muscle and joint properties in Drosophila melanogaster. Slow muscle fibers are highly efficient and maintain constant tension, so these are modeled as non-backdriveable actuators in series with nonlinear elastic elements. Intermediate and fast muscle fibers are stiff and power-hungry, but can generate short bursts of high power, so these are modeled as backdriveable units with no series-elastic element. The result is an actuator with two key characteristics: 1) it can employ the slow muscle fibers to maintain a constant reference position and joint stiffness indefinitely while consuming no energy; and 2) it can follow a sinusoidal reference position while consuming extremely little energy by using slow muscle fibers to set the resonant frequency to match the frequency of the reference position. Control is performed by a Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller. This approach to position and stiffness tuning may facilitate increases in the adaptability and energy efficiency of robotic locomotion.

MIT Breakthrough: Artificial Tendons Give Muscle-Powered Robots 3× Speed and 30× Force Introduction Biohybrid robotics—machines powered by living muscle—has long promised natural motion and unmatched adaptability. But weak force transmission and fragile connections have held the field back. MIT engineers have now solved this barrier with a new artificial tendon system that dramatically amplifies strength, speed, and durability, pushing real-muscle robots closer to practical deployment. Key Developments • MIT researchers created artificial tendons from tough, flexible hydrogel engineered to adhere to both living tissue and robotic components. • These tendons bridge lab-grown muscle to robotic skeletons with far greater efficiency than muscle alone. • The upgraded system delivered 3× faster movement and 30× more force in a robotic gripper compared to muscle-only designs. • The modular tendon–muscle interface allows interchangeable components, simplifying the design of diverse muscle-driven robotic systems. • Precise stiffness and flexibility were modeled using a three-spring simulation representing muscle, tendon, and robot skeleton. • The hydrogel tendons enabled more than 7,000 contraction cycles without degradation—a major milestone in durability. • The power-to-weight ratio increased 11×, meaning small muscle strips can now produce significantly larger mechanical outputs. • External experts note the leap in force transmission, longevity, and modularity as a significant advance for biohybrid robotics. Scientific and Engineering Significance • The soft-but-strong tendons solve chronic tearing and detachment issues that previously limited muscle-powered machines. • This biomechanical bridge mimics the native tendon–muscle relationship in animals, enabling more realistic and efficient actuation. • The approach creates a scalable path for building robots with natural movement, enhanced adaptability, and biological energy efficiency. • Researchers are already developing protective “skin-like” casings to bring these systems closer to real-world operation environments. Why This Matters MIT’s tendon-enhanced biohybrid system represents a foundational leap for next-generation robotics. By unlocking powerful, reliable, biologically driven actuation, engineers can design machines that move more like organisms—efficient, flexible, and capable of fine control. This breakthrough paves the way for lifelike soft robots, medical devices powered by engineered tissue, and new classes of adaptive machines that blend biology with engineered precision. I share daily insights with 34,000+ followers across defense, tech, and policy. If this topic resonates, I invite you to connect and continue the conversation. Keith King https://lnkd.in/gHPvUttw

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐁𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬 Researchers from EPFL (Switzerland) and Konkuk University (South Korea) have developed a new flapping microrobot inspired by rhinoceros beetles. This innovative robot passively deploys and retracts its wings, mimicking the natural movements of beetles without the need for extensive actuators. 🪲 Natural Mechanics: Unlike birds and bats, rhinoceros beetles passively deploy their hindwings using forces from their elytra and flapping motion. This insight led to creating an 18-gram microrobot with elastic tendons that allow passive wing deployment and retraction, enhancing its similarity to real insects. 🤖 Engineering Marvel: The microrobot, approximately twice the size of a beetle, can take off and maintain stable flight by activating its flapping motion. When at rest, it folds its wings along its body, protecting them from damage and allowing it to navigate narrow spaces. This design makes it ideal for search and rescue missions in confined spaces, where traditional drones cannot operate. 🌿 Future Applications: Due to its safe, low-flapping frequency, the robot could assist biologists in studying insect flight biomechanics, serve as spy insects for wildlife exploration, or act as an engineering toy for kids. Future improvements may include enhanced agility and ground locomotion capabilities like perching and crawling. 🌍 Broader Impact: This research significantly opens new avenues for creating insect-like robots that can operate in environments inaccessible to humans, showcasing the profound potential of biomimicry in advancing robotic technology. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eB97KxBG

This tiny robot is offering scale, sustainability, and simplicity in a space that needs all three. We lost 6.7 million hectares of tropical primary forests in 2024 alone, as per a 2025 report by the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab. This is the largest annual loss on record in at least two decades, highlighting the urgent need for innovations that are simple, scalable, and cost-effective. An interesting innovation that caught my eye recently is the Erodium Copy robot by Morphing Matter Lab. It’s inspired by how the Erodium plant naturally buries its seeds. This robot copies that same behavior. It’s designed to operate with minimal human intervention. You simply place it on the ground or drop it by drone, and it drills itself into the soil, burying the attached seed at a depth optimized for survival. What caught my attention were two key aspects … 1. It works really well, even at scale. In tests, it had a 90% success rate when dropped by drones. It even supports helpful organisms like fungi and tiny soil creatures that improve the seed’s chances of growing. 2. It’s focused. It doesn’t try to do everything. It does one thing (plant seeds) and does it really well. Its 3-leg design keeps it stable, precise, and environmentally friendly. In my view, it’s a smart example of frugal, systems-aware innovation where form, function, and environmental context converge. It may not be the only answer. But it represents the kind of thinking we need more of in climate tech - focused, field-tested, and scalable. What do you think of this innovation? #Innovation #ClimateTech #Sustainability

The Ball-and-Socket Challenge 🤖 Why do humanoid robots still move like... robots? One major reason: we haven't cracked the ball-and-socket joint. Human shoulders and hips are engineering marvels that provide 3-degree-of-freedom motion in incredibly compact packages. Replicating these would unlock human-like arm manipulation and true bipedal walking. The Challenge: - 3 independent actuators in minimal space - Handle massive loads without backlash - Precise coordination across all axes Current Approaches: 🔧 Spherical Gears - Soccer ball with gear teeth controlled by 3 motors. Precise but complex manufacturing. 🚀 NASA Ultrasonic - Piezoelectric waves drive the joint at kilohertz frequencies. Ultra-compact but requires sophisticated control. 💨 Variable Stiffness - 3D-printed joints that switch from flexible to rigid via air pressure. Great for medical robots. 💪 Artificial Muscles - Heated polymer fibers contract like real muscle. Bio-inspired but slow response times. The Reality: No clear winner yet. Each trades off precision vs simplicity, power vs size, speed vs bio-mimicry. The race to solve ball-and-socket joints could be THE breakthrough that makes humanoids truly human-like in their movement. When will we crack this engineering puzzle? 🤔