Roboticists are inspired by nature all the time to improve their designs. Researchers at SEAS and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering have developed a new RoboBee powered by soft artificial muscles. It can survive crashing into walls, falling on the floor, and colliding with other RoboBees.
As the researchers explain, the soft actuators can be easily assembled and replaced. With a 4-wing, two-actuator model, these bots can fly in cluttered environment and overcome multiple collisions. An 8-wing, 4 actuator version demonstrated controlled hovering flight.
[HT]