Harvard’s and Wyss Institute’s engineers have created a new type of flying robot dubbed the Robobee. This robot is based off the biology of a bee. It is about the size of half a paperclip, and it weighs less than one tenth of a gram. It uses artificial muscles to fly and a voltage to power the robot. It has “smart” sensors like antennae to find direction and to respond to the environment around the robot.

This robot can be used for disaster relief and can serve some important roles in agriculture. When creating the robot, engineers used pop-up microelectromechanical (MEM’s) tech to build the robot accurately and efficiently. Using this method,the scientists were able to achieve the robots small size.

This why the robot is able to have its miniature size. With the Robobee and MEM’s, we can create and efficiently manufacture these robots. With robots like the Robobee, they can do tiny jobs we could never do, and make society and life safer and easier.

Wyss Institutes Article: https://wyss.harvard.edu/technology/autonomous-flying-microrobots-robobees/