Several years ago, Harvard University roboticist Robert Wood made headlines when his lab constructed RoboBee, a tiny robot capable of partially untethered flight. Over the years, RoboBee has ...

He explains that these legs are crucial for safeguarding the RoboBee's fragile piezoelectric actuators – the powerful "muscles" that enable flight but are easily damaged by rough landings.

Harvard's RoboBee will one day conduct artificial pollination and survey disaster zones, but first it has to stop crash landing.

The Harvard RoboBee has long shown it can fly, dive, and hover like a real insect. But what good is the miracle of flight without a safe way to land?