Watch a Little Robot Flap Its Wings Like a Rhinoceros Beetle

A teeny robot designed to replicate the helping dynamics of rhinoceros beetles could beryllium well-suited for search-and-rescue missions, arsenic good arsenic spying connected existent insects, according to researchers astatine Switzerland’s Institute of Technology Lausanne and South Korea’s Konkuk University.

Roughly twice the size of a beetle and weighing somewhat much than a CD (18 grams), the microrobot’s rapid, insectlike movements gully from probe into however beetles deploy their wings. Unlike birds and bats, which trust connected “well-developed pectoral and helping muscles” to outstretch their wings, the researchers observed that “rhinoceros beetles tin effortlessly deploy their hindwings without necessitating muscular activity,” they wrote successful a insubstantial published successful Nature this week. To trial their observations, they made the robot.

There was already plentifulness of footage of insect-inspired robots online — immoderate extremely tiny, immoderate similar a swarm of ants, and others reminiscent of cicadas. However, the researchers accidental their robotic critter is unsocial successful however it folds up its wings astatine remainder and past passively deploys them to instrumentality formation and stay successful the air. The researchers filmed the robot portion airborne and slowed the footage (to 20% of the existent speed) to amusement disconnected its elegant, rhythmic flaps.

“Our robot with foldable wings tin beryllium utilized for hunt and rescue missions successful confined spaces,” pb researcher and postdoctoral idiosyncratic Hoang-Vu Phan told Tech Xplore, citing the robot’s tiny stature. “When formation is not possible, the robot tin onshore oregon perch connected immoderate surface, and past power to different locomotion modes specified arsenic crawling,” helium explained. The folding relation could marque its wings little susceptible to damage.

Phan besides said the robot could beryllium disguised to assistance biologists spy connected existent insects successful forests — a usage “for which accepted rotary-wing drones are not applicable,” helium said. The robot mightiness adjacent marque a decent engineering artifact for kids, Phan suggested, explaining that the robot’s “low-flapping frequence is precise harmless and human-friendly.” That’s not dissimilar existent rhinoceros beetles, which neither wound nor sting, contempt their somewhat intimidating appearance.