Ultralight drone that could pollinate crops, collect weather data and monitor traffic takes flight with flapping wings that mimic nature
- A roboticist at Boston’s Northeastern University has created the new device
- The machine is inspired by a bat’s ability to fold their wings into various shapes
- This gives them greater agility than other flying animals, who flap up and down
Drones frequently resemble helicopters or aeroplanes but now researchers have taken inspiration from birds, bats and insects to
A new generation of ultralight drone has been designed using flapping wings, as opposed to rigid ones, or rotating propellers.
Alireza Ramezan, a roboticist at Boston’s Northeastern University, devised the UAV after studying nature and hopes it could one day be used to enhance modern life by pollinating crops, collecting weather data and monitoring traffic.
They may even function as ‘guardians of future cities’, monitoring elderly people who live alone, or by working with the emergency services.
Mimic: The Bat Bot has highly stretchable silicone-based membrane wings that are controlled by number of joints, much like the creature it’s inspired by
‘There will be these machines that are round the clock doing monitoring and providing information,’ says Dr Ramezani.
‘We can think of them as the guardians of future cities.’
Dr Ramezani came up with the idea after studying how bats take flight.
He noticed that they can manipulate their wings into various shapes for increased agility – something other winged creates can’t do.
This deftly explains why his machine is playfully called the Bat Bot.
Weighing in at just 93 grams, it’s heavier than the average bat, but it would still be able to take flight with ease.
‘We implemented highly stretchable silicone-based membrane wings that are controlled by number of wing joints to best match the morphological characteristics of bat flight,’ he added.
Social service: The Bat Bot may even function as ‘guardians of future cities’, monitoring elderly people who live alone, or by working with the emergency services
Inspiration: Ramezani came up with the idea after studying how bats take flight. He noticed that they can manipulate their wings into various shapes for increased agility
The new drones are still in the early prototype stage, which means it’ll be several years before they’re available for personal or commercial use, according to NBC.
However, when they do reach the market, it’s hoped they’ll be fitted with a range of functions such as GPS, sensors and and cameras. There’s even scope for them to work together, in sync.
Ramezani’s work was published in the journal Science Robotics.
