Propulsion

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.

How Much Do You Know About Electric Aircraft Advances?

How much do you know about the advances regarding to electric aircraft?

Lignin-Based Jet Fuel Packs More Power

An experimental plant-based jet fuel could increase engine performance and efficiency, while dispensing with aromatics, the pollution-causing compounds found in conventional fuels.

Tiny Limbs and Long Bodies: Coordinating Lizard Locomotion

Using biological experiments, robot models, and a geometric theory of locomotion, researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology investigated how and why intermediate lizard...

Interuniversity Project to Design Wave-Powered Autonomous Robot

With the perpetual motion of its waves and tides, the Earth's ocean represents a highly predictable, theoretically limitless source of kinetic energy.

Anti-Phase Noise Suppression Rotor Technologies

Acoustic optimization for anti-phase asymmetric rotor.

Analyses Find Cause of Fatal Problem in Rocket Engine Combustors

Advanced analyses shed light on the mechanism of a deadly problem plaguing combustion chambers in rocket engines.

Miniature Separable Fill and Drain Valve

Besides miniature spacecraft propulsion systems, the valve could also have applications in the industrial processing industry where low flow devices are commonly used.

Outer Aileron Yaw Damper

A lightweight alternative to rudders for aircraft with spanwise adaptive wings.

Aeronautics in the 21st Century: Safe. Sustainable. Smart.

Aviation is emerging aggressively from the pandemic to turn setbacks into comebacks.

A Turning Point in Space Exploration

As advancements in space exploration continue, more funding will not only help achieve scientific goals but also inspire the next generation of leaders in STEM, just as it did during the 1960s.

Tiny Robotic Crab Is Smallest-Ever Remote-Controlled Walking Robot

Northwestern University engineers have developed the smallest-ever remote-controlled walking robot — and it comes in the form of a tiny peekytoe crab.

Twisted Soft Robots Navigate Mazes Without Human or Computer Guidance

Researchers from North Carolina State University and the University of Pennsylvania have developed soft robots that are capable of navigating complex environments,...

Robotic Lightning Bugs Take Flight

Fireflies that light up dusky backyards on warm summer evenings use their luminescence for communication — to attract a mate, ward off predators, or lure prey.

Jumping Robot Leaps to Record Heights

A mechanical jumper developed by University of California Santa Barbara engineering professor Elliot Hawkes and collaborators is capable of achieving the tallest height — roughly 100 feet (30...