Taking design inspiration from an ostrich, the BirdBot needs fewer motors than comparable legged robots. A few facts about ostriches: It took just a few million years for terrestrial birds to refine ...

Researchers have developed a bird-like robot capable of walking, hopping, and leaping into flight. Named RAVEN (Robotic Avian-inspired Vehicle for multiple Environments), the design features ...

The VelociRoach is a robotic cockroach that has recently become a launching pad for a robot bird. The mechanical cockroach runs until the mechanical bird, or ornithopter, is at liftoff velocity. The ...

Long before the Wright Brothers took their first flight, people have tried to take to the skies with all sorts of wacky contraptions—from Leonardo Da Vinci’s helicopters to people who haphazardly ...

Roboticists often copy nature, crafting humanoid robots for household chores, worm-style machines for crawling through tunnels and four-legged contraptions that look like cheetahs for running and ...