Propulsion

New Bioinspired Robot Flies, Walks, and More

A newly created real-life Transformer can reconfigure its body to achieve eight distinct types of motion and can autonomously assess the environment it faces to choose the most effective...

Megawatt Electrical Motor Could Help Electrify Aviation

Aerospace engineers designed a 1-megawatt electrical motor that is a stepping stone toward electrifying the largest aircraft.

Robot Fish Makes Splash with Motion Breakthrough

A robot fish fitted with a twisted and coiled polymer (TCP) to drive it forward, a lightweight low-cost device that relies on temperature change to generate movement, could make underwater...

Many-Legged Robots Can Traverse Difficult Landscapes

Inspired by centipedes, Georgia Tech researchers have developed many-legged robots that can move across uneven surfaces without any additional sensing or control technology.

Model Simulates Variable Flap Stiffness for the Best Lift

There is extensive research on how a fixed-position flap affects lift in the realm of fluid-structure interaction. However, taking the conversation in a new direction, researchers...

Feathered Robotic Wing Paves Way for Flapping Drones

Birds fly more efficiently by folding their wings during the upstroke, according to a recent study led by Lund University in Sweden. The results could mean that wing-folding is the...

5 Questions with DART's Dr. Cambioni

A Tech Briefs interview with DART team member Dr. Saverio Cambioni.

Mech Suit Gives Humans 50X Strength

The all-terrain walking mech’s aim is to give humans the size and strength of giants. It does just that — times 50.

Test Your Knowledge About the Artemis Generation

Do you know the Artemis generation? Test your knowledge about performance and crew-related aspects of the Artemis generation.

Viscosity Enables Complex Motions for Soft Robots

Untethered soft robots are poised to become even more agile and controlled.

NASA Targets 2026 for Launch of Israel's First Space Telescope

NASA will launch Israel’s first space telescope mission, the Ultraviolet Transient Astronomy Satellite (ULTRASAT). ULTRASAT, an ultraviolet observatory with a large field...

Plasma Thrusters Used on Satellites Could be Much More Powerful

It was believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind of electric propulsion widely used in orbit, need to be large to produce a lot of thrust. Now, a new study from the...

Using Ultrasound Waves to Move Objects

By placing a metamaterial pattern on the surface of an object, the researchers were able to use sound to steer it in a certain direction without physically touching it.

A Flapping-Wing Robot Able to Perch

A flapping-wing robot that can land autonomously on a horizontal perch using a claw-like mechanism.

Hummingbird Flight Could Provide Insights for Biomimicry in Aerial Vehicles

Hummingbirds occupy a unique place in nature: They fly like insects but have the musculoskeletal system of birds. According to Bo Cheng, Associate Professor in...

Best Practices to Optimize Motor Selection

Optimizing motor selection for motion control applications can have significant performance, cost, and maintenance benefits.

Solid Electrolyte–Based Microthrusters for Precision Propulsion

Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing a novel microthruster that could provide easy-to-control propulsion during spaceflight.

How Artemis I Launched

The Artemis I launch took place at Launch Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with support from University of Central Florida alums, faculty, and students. However, it didn’t go off without a hitch.

The Skillful Skydiving of Wingless Springtails

Early in the pandemic, Víctor Ortega-Jiménez was exploring creeks near his home and observing springtails. The organisms are the most abundant non-insect hexapods on earth, and...

The Burrowing Mole Crab Robot

The unassuming Pacific mole crab, Emerita analoga, is about to make some waves. UC Berkeley researchers have debuted a unique robot inspired by this burrowing crustacean that may someday help evaluate the...

Soft Mate Lifting Device

This below-the-hook device enables gentle crane placement to decrease the risk of property damage.

Fighting Gravity with the World’s First Propulsion Suit

Using jet fuel as a means to power five gas turbines, the suit can propel pilots about 40 mph for up to eight minutes and can generate more than 1,000 horsepower.

A Manta Ray-Inspired Bio-Syncretic Robot

Biomimetics is one of the most important robotic research methods which can improve the kinematic performance of robots by imitating the structure and behavior of natural organisms.

Smart Microrobots Walk Autonomously

A collaborative effort has installed electronic “brains” on solar-powered robots that are 100 to 250 micrometers in size — smaller than an ant’s head — so that they can walk autonomously...

A Motorless Sailplane to Explore Mars’ Atmosphere

The UA team aims to design a motorless sailplane that can soar over the Martian surface for days at a time, using only wind for propulsion.