It looks like a mosquito. It even moves like a mosquito. But it’s not a mosquito! A team of scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently invented drones modeled after flying insects. These tiny remote-controlled robots weigh just 0.02 ounces, about the same as a paper clip.
The mini-drones flap their wings nearly 500 times per second. That’s more than twice as a fast as a honeybee. Like some flying insects, the drones can dart in different directions. Gusts of wind and collisions with other objects are no big deal for the tiny machines.
“You can hit it when it’s flying, and it can recover,” says Kevin Chen, who led the team of researchers.
Chen is still working to perfect the design. But he hopes that one day the little drones will be used for a variety of purposes. For example, they might be used in place of real insects to pollinate crops. The flying robots could also be fitted with cameras and sent to hard-to-reach spaces. They could be used to inspect the insides of machines or to search for missing people after a disaster such as the collapse of a building.
“All those things can be very challenging for existing large-scale robots,” Chen says.