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Technologies 9

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• Circe: Transforming greenhouse gases into biodegradable products
  Our society is built upon cheap, widely available petrochemicals. Beyond gasoline and other fuels, petrochemicals are primary components of many of the objects in our everyday lives, including clothing, cosmetics, electronics, packaging, paint, floors, cars, and furniture. The vast majority of these products do not biodegrade in the environment and are not recycled, and the...
• cold-SNAP: Eco-friendly air conditioning
  As average global temperatures steadily climb, the worldwide demand for air conditioning is expected to triple by 2050. Conventional air conditioners, while now cheap to manufacture, still rely on low-efficiency mechanical vapor compression to cool and dehumidify air, making them one of the largest consumers of energy in industrialized countries. An alternative cooling method called...
• RAPID: Testing for Food Contaminants
  Contamination of food by microorganisms such as certain bacteria, viruses and fungi is a constant concern, with even miniscule amounts of certain species posing a risk for foods to become unsafe and spoiled during storage. Current safety and quality tests are often not sensitive enough to detect rare species, and because they first require the...
• milliDelta: Millimeter-Scale Delta Robot
  Delta robots are deployed in many industrial processes, including pick-and-place assemblies, machining, welding, and food packaging. Three individually controlled lightweight arms enable fast and accurate motion of an output platform in three directions. Roboticists have reduced the size of Delta robots for tasks in limited workspaces, but so far, using conventional manufacturing techniques and components,...
• HAMR: Versatile Crawling Microrobot
  Small or difficult-to-access spaces such as areas covered with rubble, or narrow pipes and engines can pose obstacles to search-and-rescue missions, repair works, or environmental and industrial monitoring. One solution for these problems could be small-sized robots that are able to navigate such spaces, transport payload, sense, and communicate. Wyss Institute researchers have developed a...
• Nanoarchitectures for Air Purification
  Illnesses caused by air pollution are the third-leading cause of death in developing nations, and over 5 million people worldwide die every year from air pollution exposure. Catalytic converters, the most widely used air purification devices, convert the toxic gases and pollutants produced by fuel combustion into benign chemicals before the exhaust is released into...

News 23

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• Video/​Animation
  
  A stress test for jellyfish
  February 24, 2020
• Press Release
  
  The RoboBee flies solo
  June 26, 2019
• Video/​Animation
  
  Saving the Planet with Robots, Microbes, and Nanotechnology
  June 5, 2019

Events 1

• Oct 24, 2016,
  2:00pm - 3:00pm
  Wyss Event
  
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  Bioinspired Robots and Mechanisms: Embracing the Environment
  As we bring robots out of the laboratory and into the world at large, one of the most important lessons we learn from nature goes beyond how to tolerate, to also include how to exploit interactions with materials and surfaces in the environment.  Nature offers many examples of structures and functional materials that help to... Free and open to public

Multimedia 14

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  Video/Animation
  Soft Robotic Gripper for Jellyfish 2.0
  Scientists from the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and CUNY have created ultra-soft robotic grippers that resemble fettuccini noodles to safely catch and release delicate underwater creatures like jellyfish without harm. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

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  Video/Animation
  Romu: A Robot for Environmental Protection
  Researchers at the Wyss Institute have developed a robot designed to drive interlocking sheet piles into the ground to help stabilize soil. Teams of such robots could help combat erosion, restore damaged landscapes, and facilitate sustainable land management in a variety of settings. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard

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  Video/Animation
  Soft Robotic Arms: Giving Biologists a Delicate, Deep-sea Reach
  What good is a soft robotic hand without a soft robotic arm to move it? Wyss researchers have now created a soft, modular underwater arm that can help marine biologists study hard-to-reach organisms in the deep sea. Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University

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  Audio/Podcast
  Disruptive: Soft Robotics for Deep Sea Exploration
  The deep ocean is the least explored environment on Earth, and scientists estimate that many thousands of species are yet to be encountered. Marine researchers depend on tools primarily developed for the military or the oil and gas industry to study and capture undersea organisms. Many of them are extremely fragile, some thousands of years...

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  Video/Animation
  3D-Printed Soft Grippers
  What’s the easiest way to pick up soft-bodied sea creatures? 3D-printed soft robots. Watch as an interdisciplinary team of marine biologists, engineers, and roboticists create custom-made soft grippers on-board the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor, allowing them to safely sample many types of delicate sea life in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). Credit: Wyss Institute...

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  Video/Animation
  HAMR: Robotic Cockroach for Underwater Explorations
  This video shows how the HAMR can transition from land to water, paddle on the surface of water, or sink to the ground to start walking again just as it would on dry land. Credit: Yufeng Chen, Neel Doshi, and Benjamin Goldberg/Harvard University