These tiny flying insect robots could help save the planet

By Daniel Jae Webb via SWNS

Scientists have developed tiny flying insect robots that could be made in their billions and help save people - and the planet.

The pioneering bug-sized machines have an artificial muscle system that creates wing motion using no rotating parts or gears.

They could help in search and rescue operations, after terrorist attacks, or maybe act as pollinators.

Typical micro flying robots have used motors, gears and other complex transmission systems to achieve the up-and-down flapping motion.

This new advance could pave the way for smaller, lighter and more effective micro flying robots.

Engineers at Bristol University say they could be used for environmental monitoring, search and rescue, and deployment in hazardous environments.

Taking inspiration from bees and other flying insects, researchers from Bristol’s Faculty of Engineering, led by Professor of Robotics Jonathan Rossiter, have successfully demonstrated the robot.

He claims billions of them could be made, allowing the autonomous bots to take on the role of a bee.

Professor Rossiter said: "We would make thousands, millions, maybe even billions of these small insect flying robots.

"We know that the bees have got a real problem at the moment, so if we could use these micro robots, send them out into the fields to pollinate the plants, then that would help us to sustain our agriculture."

The direct-drive artificial muscle system, called the Liquid-amplified Zipping Actuator (LAZA), greatly simplifies the flapping mechanism, enabling future miniaturization of flapping robots down to the size of insects.

LAZA-powered flapping wings can provide more power compared with insect muscle of the same weight, enough to fly a robot across a room at 18 body lengths per second.

The system can deliver consistent flapping over more than one million cycles, important for making flapping robots that can undertake long-haul flights.

Dr. Tim Helps, lead author and developer of the LAZA system said: “With the LAZA, we apply electrostatic forces directly on the wing, rather than through a complex, inefficient transmission system.

"This leads to better performance, simpler design, and will unlock a new class of low-cost, lightweight flapping micro-air vehicles for future applications, like autonomous inspection of offshore wind turbines.”