Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory

Research overview

Remarked one unimpressed Yale researcher: "Leave it to the Harvard fellows to invent new and exciting ways to be irritating."

Our research focuses primarily on the following three ares:

Biomimetic mobile microrobots

Flying robotic insects

Diptera, Odonata, and Hymenoptera are the inspiration behind multiple flapping-wing <200mg micro air vehicles.

Ambulatory robotic insects

Our fabrication capabilities allow us to make actuated and articulated structures on the sub-millimeter scale. The biomechanics of arthropod locomotion is used as a design guide.

Aquatic microrobots

Based upon the body/caudal fin undulatory motion of Cyprinidae, we are developing a multi-segmented cm-scale tail for an integrated robotic minnow. Environmental monitoring and in vivo diagnosis are just a few applications.

Control for autonomous robots and emergent swarm behaviors

Micro air vehicle design and control

We are developing multiple MAV platforms with an emphasis on robustness and maneuverability for safe and collaborative indoor use.

Mobile robot AI and autonomy

We have developed a general-purpose mobile robot, equipped with a suite of exteroceptive localization sensors. Using this platform, we are exploring methods of using operant conditioning to teach complex behaviors.

Swarm robotics and decentralized control

We are interested in using highly mobile biomimetic insect-scale robots to reproduce emergent behaviors found in social insects. Multi-robot systems can significantly increase both robustness and capability compared to an individual robot.

Smart materials, microactuators, and soft robotics

Microactuators and artificial muscles To support our efforts with microrobot development we are exploring multiple active materials and compliant actuator morphologies. This includes piezoelectric and shape memory materials, dielectric elastomer microactuators, active fiber composites, and chemical actuators. We are also developing the associated power and drive electronics.
Soft robotics and soft microrobotics As a paradigm shift from more traditional approaches, compliant mechanisms and soft actuators are being used to create morphable mobile robots.
Programmable matter Synergistic with soft robotics is research on materials with embedded sensing, actuation, communication, and computation. These materials will be self-reconfigurable to form numerous user-defined structural components and objects.
Meso-scale rapid fabrication All microrobot development efforts leverage our unique fabrication capabilities. Laminated, laser micromachined materials are stacked to create articulated flexure mechanisms, actuators, legs, wings, exoskeletons, sensors, and numerous other useful devices.
Novel sensors for microrobot autonomy Biological inspiration has been used to create a suite of lightweight, low power attitude estimation sensors for microrobot stability and navigation.