Robots that can flap their wings, hover and dart around like a fly could help scientists better understand the finer points of insect aviation, researchers report in the May 3 Science.
Flies can easily dart out of a flyswatter’s path or land on a surface blowing in the wind. Some research suggests that subtle changes in wing motion can create enough twisting motion for them to make sharp turns. Emulating fly aviation in the lab with robots could help scientists understand the details of insect flight. But doing that has proved difficult.
“People have been trying to build flapping devices like this for years.” says Michael Dickinson, a bioengineer at the University of Washington in Seattle, who wasn’t involved in the work.