Remote-Controlled Robot the Size of a Fly
05-08-2013, 11:52 AM
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Remote-Controlled Robot the Size of a Fly
Researchers have developed a remote-controlled robot about the size of a fat housefly that mimics a fly’s aerial prowess.
A developer of the robot, Robert J. Wood, an electrical engineer at Harvard, said it “reproduces some of the key aspects of being able to control flight, stably hover and maneuver.”
The wafer-thin wings of a fly flap 120 times a second. Developing a robot to do the same took more than a decade and a variety of technologies, according to Dr. Wood and his colleagues, who describe it in the current issue of the journal Science.
It weighs just 80 milligrams and is controlled remotely. Each wing can be controlled independently.
To make the muscles, the researchers used piezoelectric actuators — strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied.
The frame is made of carbon fiber embedded with plastic hinges as joints.
The researchers also layered and sandwiched sheets of laser-cut materials.
“It takes inspiration from children’s pop-up books,” Dr. Wood said. “You can take the composite and fold it into whatever structure you want.”
The robot could help researchers better understand the evolution of insects, he said.
“We have a powerful way to understand what the natural systems are doing.”
The robot fly is part of a larger project at Harvard called RoboBees, an effort to develop many robotic insects.
Robotic insects make first controlled flight - YouTube
A developer of the robot, Robert J. Wood, an electrical engineer at Harvard, said it “reproduces some of the key aspects of being able to control flight, stably hover and maneuver.”
The wafer-thin wings of a fly flap 120 times a second. Developing a robot to do the same took more than a decade and a variety of technologies, according to Dr. Wood and his colleagues, who describe it in the current issue of the journal Science.
It weighs just 80 milligrams and is controlled remotely. Each wing can be controlled independently.
To make the muscles, the researchers used piezoelectric actuators — strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied.
The frame is made of carbon fiber embedded with plastic hinges as joints.
The researchers also layered and sandwiched sheets of laser-cut materials.
“It takes inspiration from children’s pop-up books,” Dr. Wood said. “You can take the composite and fold it into whatever structure you want.”
The robot could help researchers better understand the evolution of insects, he said.
“We have a powerful way to understand what the natural systems are doing.”
The robot fly is part of a larger project at Harvard called RoboBees, an effort to develop many robotic insects.
Robotic insects make first controlled flight - YouTube
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