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127 Results for 'Mechanical Engineering'
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Technologies 15
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Ultra-Strong Flexible Biomaterials
Hydrogels are already being developed for use as scaffolds for tissue engineering, vehicles for drug delivery, actuators for optics and fluidics, and models for biological studies of tissue-supporting material called the extracellular matrix. But these water-rich polymer gels are weak; they rupture if stretched just a little, and they break easily compared with resilient biological... -
Project ABBIE
Over 15 million Americans are at risk of anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction triggered by exposure to certain foods, materials, medications and insect bites. Every three minutes a food reaction sends someone to the emergency room. In most individuals, anaphylactic shock can be prevented by administering the counteracting drug, epinephrine. Yet, despite effective treatments, death from... -
Root – A robot to empower the next generation of coders
Computing is currently the fastest growing segment in the STEM fields, yet education in this area has lagged behind technological progress and demand. One of the main challenges in teaching K-16 coding is the difficulty in finding frameworks that span a wide age range and appeal to broad audiences. Databases aren’t something that excite most... -
Soft Exosuits
Soft exosuits offer a new way to assist the elderly in maintaining or restoring their gait, in rehabilitating children and adults with movement disorders due to Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease, or to ease the physical burden of soldiers, firefighters, paramedics, farmers and others whose jobs require them to carry extremely heavy loads.For decades... -
Improving Balance and Gait Control
Balance in humans relies on complex feedback from the senses that govern the body’s mechanical stability. Wyss Institute and Boston University researchers have discovered that random vibrations, too gentle to be felt, can improve the sensory feedback system and may restore stability through a mechanism known as “stochastic resonance”. By incorporating vibrating elements in insoles... -
Preventing Infant Apnea
Clinicians and engineers at the Wyss Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a unique and proprietary system that reduces the onset of neonatal apnea in low birth-weight infants in a clinical trial at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The system makes use of the concept of Stochastic Resonance to reset the...
News 88
Multimedia 24
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Audio/PodcastDisruptive: Bioinspired RoboticsOur bodies—and all living systems—accomplish tasks far more complex and dynamic than anything yet designed by humans. Many of the most advanced robots in use today are still far less sophisticated than ants that “self–organize” to build an ant hill, or termites that work together to build impressive, massive mounds in Africa. From insects in... -
Video/Animation3D Printed Soft Jumping RobotUsing a multi-material 3D printer for manufacturing allowed Wyss Institute researchers to fabricate the jumping robot in one uninterrupted job, seamlessly transitioning from rigid core components to a soft exterior in a single print session. It’s first ever robot to be 3D printed with layers of material gradients, making it extremely durable and giving the... -
Video/AnimationRoboBee: Controlled flight of a robotic insectInspired by the biology of a fly, with submillimeter-scale anatomy and two wafer-thin wings that flap at 120 times per second, robotic insects, or RoboBees, achieve vertical takeoff, hovering, and steering. The tiny robots flap their wings using piezoelectric actuators — strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied. Thin... -
Video/AnimationTERMESInspired by termites, the TERMES robots act independently but collectively. They can carry bricks, build staircases, and then climb them to add bricks to a structure. For more information, please visit our technology page: Programmable Robot Swarms Credit: Wyss Institute at Harvard University -
Video/AnimationTough GelA team at the Wyss Institute is honing a tough, rubbery hydrogel initially developed at Harvards School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The gel is 90 percent water, yet it stretches without breaking to more than 20 times its original length and recoils like rubber, the researchers first reported in Nature in 2012. In fact,...
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Video/Animation3D Printing: Cellular CompositesMaterials scientists at Harvard University have created lightweight cellular composites via 3D printing. These fiber-reinforced epoxy composites mimic the structure and performance of balsa wood. Because the fiber fillers align along the printing direction, their local orientation can be exquisitely controlled. These 3D composites may be useful for wind turbine, automotive and aerospace applications, where...