Watch: Flying robot inspired by insects – The Hindu

Scientists have now developed a new autonomous flying robot that mimics the rapid flight of insects. Researchers at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands have said that experimenting with the agile flying wing robot helps to better understand how fruit flies control aggressive escape maneuvers.

The robot, named DelFly Nimble, has exceptional flight qualities that open up new drone applications, they said. According to research published in the journal, flying animals feed and control flying by flapping their wings. Science. This allows small natural insects such as insects to hover near a flower, but also to quickly escape the danger.

As with flying insects, the robot's flapping wings, which beat 17 times per second, not only generate the lift necessary to stay in flight, but also control flight through minor adjustments to wing movement. Inspired by fruit flies, the robot's control mechanisms proved to be very effective, allowing it to fly on the spot and fly in all directions with great agility.

"The robot has a top speed of 25 kilometers per hour (km / h) and can even perform aggressive maneuvers, such as 360-degree roll-like rollovers," said Matej Karasek, designer of the robot. robot. "In addition, the 33-centimeter, 29-gram robot has excellent energy efficiency relative to its size, allowing five minutes of hovering or more than one kilometer on a fully charged battery."

The flight performance of the robot, combined with its programmability, also makes it well suited for research on insect flight.

"When I saw the robber flying for the first time, I was amazed at how much its flight was like that of insects, especially when maneuvering," said Professor Florian Muijres of Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. "I immediately thought we could use it to research the control and dynamics of insect flight."

According to the researchers, the team decided to program the robot to reproduce the supposed control actions of the insects during high agility avoidance maneuvers. The robot in this study relies on established manufacturing methods, uses standard components and its flight endurance is long enough to interest real-world applications.