ROBOTIC INSECTS ARE SET IN FLIGHT AT THE HARVARD ROBOTICS INSTITUTE

 

The engineers at Harvard robotics have unveiled their 'flying insects', tiny robots the size of a quarter.

They set them alight in the laboratory to demonstrate their engineering prowess.  They lifted, leapt, and hovered, as they flapped tiny translucent wings.

The work that resulted in this novel robotic instruments lasted nearly a decade and is the combined effort of both the Harvard School of Engineering and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, also at Harvard.

What has allowed the groups to finally be successful, was the development of new material and manufacturing just recently, that allowed the fine tuning and parts needed to complete the project successfully. 

It is not the first time that biology inspires technology. Some of the robotics we see today come from the study of insects that have multiple legs, and how those legs synchronize in movement to propel the animal forward.  

But flying is a whole 'nother matter. The wings, for example flap 120 times per second and are wafer thin.  All this takes a lot work.  And It doesn't just involve designing the part and assembling them. Each stage of production produces its own complications and stumbling blocks, which then must be resolved in order to continue the process.

One of the most difficult problem was powering the tiny wings.  In the case of large robots, electromagnetic actuators can be used to generate movement.  But in as small a scale as this, new solutions had to be found.  

In the case of the tiny damsels, the wings actually are set in motion by piezoelectric actuators, strips of ceramic that expand and contract when an electric field is applied.  

But the engineering at such small scale is daunting because of its size.  Air flow dynamics in small devices are very different than those at larger scales, so the control systems have to be hyperreactive. 

Applications of the Robobee, as the tiny instruments are called, could have myriad applications.  From assistance in crop pollination, to search and rescue in places that are inaccessible to available devices.  

Harnessing biology then, is very important for a future where more and more, instruments can use biologically inspired engineering to replicate the difficult tasks handled by animals in nature.  

Source : Science Daily  5.3.13