These small drones inspired by wasps can open a door 40 times their weight and could one day be used in disaster areas.

• The researchers built tiny microdrones capable of opening a door 40 times their weight.
• They were inspired by predatory wasps, which can cause large prey on the ground.
• One researcher said the technology could be adapted to more complex tasks such as moving debris or recovering items from disaster areas.

Researchers have developed microdrones capable of opening a door 40 times their weight by studying the biology of predatory wasps.

Researchers in robotics at Stanford University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne wanted to find a way for tiny microdrones to perform a "powerful shot." They turned to biomimetics, which allowed them to be inspired by the natural world.

They observed that wasps are able to carry large prey by dragging them on the ground. They used this behavior as a template when creating tiny microdrones, which they named "FlyCroTugs".

The drones are equipped with cables and winches and can attach the cable to an object, then anchor themselves to the ground before starting to wind the cable to themselves.

With this technology, two FlyCroTugs, each weighing 100 grams, were able to open a door 40 times their mass.

You can watch the microdrones that open the door here:

Part of the FlyCroTug design is inspired by another animal. Famous for hanging on the walls with sticky feet, the gecko lizard inspired the drones' adhesive.

"Teams of these drones could work cooperatively to perform more complex handling tasks," Stanford researcher Matt Estrada told IEEE Spectrum, a magazine dedicated to engineering and applied sciences.

"We have demonstrated that a door must be opened, but this approach could extend to the rotation of a ball valve, the movement of debris or the recovery of an object of interest in an area. disaster. "

There are still some obstacles to overcome before you can use the tiny drones on the ground. For the moment, their battery lasts only five minutes. The FlyCroTug also requires a human to drive it, researchers have not yet developed a detection system or AI for it.

You can read the complete document of the researchers on the construction of the FlyCroTug drone here.

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