Image 1 - Powered by soft artificial muscles that can crash into walls, fall onto the floor, & collide with other RoboBees without being damaged. Tirst microrobot powered by soft actuators.

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RoboBees: Autonomous Flying Microrobots

Creator: Wyss Institute

Country: United States of America

Summary

Powered by soft artificial muscles that can crash into walls, fall onto the floor, & collide with other RoboBees without being damaged. Tirst microrobot powered by soft actuators.

Status: Research

Operation: Semi-autonomous, Teleoperation

Robot Type / Domain: Multi/General-Purpose

Tasks: crop pollination, search and rescue, surveillance, climate monitoring ...

Learn More

Below is an extract from the online article at https://wyss.harvard.edu/technology/robobees-autonomous-flying-microrobots/

"Inspired by the biology of a bee, researchers at the Wyss Institute are developing RoboBees, manmade systems that could perform myriad roles in agriculture or disaster relief. A RoboBee measures about half the size of a paper clip, weighs less that one-tenth of a gram, and flies using “artificial muscles” compromised of materials that contract when a voltage is applied. Additional modifications allow some models of RoboBee to transition from swimming underwater to flying, as well as “perch” on surfaces using static electricity.

The masterminding of the RoboBee was motivated by the idea to develop autonomous micro-aerial vehicles capable of self-contained, self-directed flight and of achieving coordinated behavior in large groups. To that end, the RoboBee development is broadly divided into three main components: the Body, Brain, and Colony. Body development consists of constructing robotic insects able to fly on their own with the help of a compact and seamlessly integrated power source; brain development is concerned with “smart” sensors and control electronics that mimic the eyes and antennae of a bee, and can sense and respond dynamically to the environment; the Colony’s focus is about coordinating the behavior of many independent robots so they act as an effective unit."

Technical Specifications

Size: 30L (mm)

Size: 1.181L (in)

Max. Payload: N/A

Weight: N/A

Max. Altitude: N/A

Max. Horizontal Speed: N/A

Max. Flight Time: N/A

Max. Hovering Time: N/A

Max. Flight Distance: N/A

Battery Recharge Time: N/A

Flying Type: Wings

Manipulation: N/A

IP Rating: N/A

Operating Temperature: N/A

Max. Title Angle: N/A

Max. Wind Speed Resistance: N/A

Open-source? N/A

Price: N/A

Show more specs

Mass: 80 mg

Wingspan: 3 cm

Wingbeat Frequency: 120 Hz

Material: Pop-Up microelectromechanical (MEMs) technologies

Actuators: Driven by 100 mg, multi-layered dielectric elastomer actuators (DEA) that have a resonant frequency and power density of 500 Hz and 600 W/kg

No more specs to show.

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References

Chen, Y., Zhao, H., Mao, J. et al. Controlled flight of a microrobot powered by soft artificial muscles. Nature 575, 324–329 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1737-7

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