First wireless flying robotic insect takes its initial flight

Robotic drones and insects have been troublesome in order to make them fly, however, recently that achievement was also unlocked when the first wirelessly flying robotic insect took off with the help of laser beams.

Researchers at University of Washington discovered a technique to transmit power to a flying robotic insect, called the RoboFly, with the help of lasers, removing the use of a separate power supplies that are too heavy for these tiny robots to carry.

The co-author of the study Sawyer Fuller stated, “Before now, the concept of wireless insect-sized flying robots was science fiction. Would we ever be able to make them work without needing a wire? Our new wireless RoboFly shows they’re much closer to real life.”

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Engadget explains, these tiny flying insects are powered by a narrow invisible laser bean that is aimed at an onboard photovoltaic cell, which converts light energy into electricity to operate its wings. Because the laser was not enough to power the wings itself, a circuit was added for boosting the power from seven volts to 240V. The team also added a micro-controller ‘brain’ on the circuit. Co-author Vikram Iyer explains, “The micro-controller acts like a real fly’s brain telling wing muscles when to fire. On RoboFly, it tells the wings things like ‘flap hard now’ or ‘don’t flap’.” The insect thus, can fly similar to a real one.

Currently, the RoboFly can land and take off but, the team hopes to soon steer the laser so it can fly around. They also believe that future versions of the insect can use small batteries or gather energy from radio frequency signals, wrote Science Daily.

The tiny flying insects can in future help with time-consuming tasks such as surveying crop growth on large farms. They can also fit into small and tight places that are inaccessible to larger drones. They are advantageous since they are cheap to make as compare to the big drones.

Video Courtesy: University of Washington