Insect-sized flying robots could
help with time-consuming tasks like surveying crop growth on large farms or
sniffing out gas leaks. These robots soar by fluttering tiny wings because they
are too small to use propellers, like those seen on their larger drone cousins.
Small size is advantageous: These robots are cheap to make and can easily slip
into tight places that are inaccessible to big drones. But current flying
robo-insects are still tethered to the ground. The electronics they need to
power and control their wings are too heavy for these miniature robots to
carry. Now, engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time
cut the cord and added a brain, allowing their RoboFly to take its first
independent flaps. This might be one small flap for a robot, but it's one giant
leap for robot-kind.
RoboFly is slightly heavier than
a toothpick and is powered by a laser beam. It uses a tiny onboard circuit that
converts the laser energy into enough electricity to operate its wings. The
engineering challenge is the flapping. Wing flapping is a power-hungry process,
and both the power source and the controller that directs the wings are too big
and bulky to ride aboard a tiny robot. But a flying robot should be able to
operate on its own. They decided to use a narrow invisible laser beam to power
their robot. They pointed the laser beam at a photovoltaic cell, which is
attached above RoboFly and converts the laser light into electricity. A circuit
boosted the seven volts coming out of the photovoltaic cell up to the 240 volts
needed for flight. To give RoboFly control over its own wings, the engineers
provided a microcontroller to the same circuit.
More information: