Insect Size Robots, AMAZING ROBOTIC INSECTS you must see, Future of Drone Surveillance

Insect-sized robots. Amazing robotic insects you must see. Future of drone surveillance. Why did millions of people watch and share this video of a fly? Well, because the viral version of the video was accompanied by a caption claiming this fly was actually one of several polymer drone flies that were in use by the U.S. military. This is an actual fly, called Cuterebra rifficus. While the viral video shown is not a polymer fly drone, insect-sized drones really do exist. Today, we will introduce to you 5 of the most amazing insect-sized robots. Let's get started. 5. RoboBee X-Wing Researchers at the Harvard Microbiotics Lab have developed the insect-inspired micro-robot called the RoboBee X-Wing. The robot has become the lightest vehicle ever to achieve sustained flight without the assistance of a power cord, according to the researchers. It features solar cells and an electronics panel to power while the extra pair of wings is given there for more stable and mostly autonomous flight. The solar-powered RoboBee is 5 centimeters long and weighs only 259 milligrams. Solar cells are equipped at its top, and at the bottom are all of the drive electronics you need to boost the trickle of voltage coming out of the solar panels up to the 200 volts. This voltage is required to drive the actuators that cause the wings to flap at 200 hertz. Right now, the RoboBee looks a bit awkward, and it certainly isn't ready to be commercialized. It will take some design optimization and additional integration work before RoboBee X-Wing gets to the point where it's flying truly autonomously. 4. DragonFly A project called DragonFly, conducted by the research and development organization Draper in conjunction with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is turning the insects into hybrid drones. Live dragonflies are equipped with backpacks containing navigation systems, which tap directly into their nervous systems. The dragonflies can then be steered to fly in certain directions. The whole thing is powered by miniature solar panels in the backpacks. The backpack-wearing dragonflies become living micro-air vehicles, or tiny drones. These kinds of drones have the potential to work where larger ones can't, flying indoors or in crowded environments. Dragonflies are able to fly thousands of miles over land and water, reaching altitudes as high as 6,000 meters. Wheeler says this gives them the major advantage over man-made micro-air vehicles, which can usually only fly for a few minutes at a time. 3. RoboFly Researchers at the University of Washington have created RoboFly. It's slightly heavier than a toothpick, around the size of a real fly, and powered by a laser beam that needs to be pointed towards its body. In its current form, RoboFly can only take off and land, as doing anything else moves its photovoltaic cell out of alignment with the laser. Down the road, though, it is hoped that the laser will be able to track with the robot as it flies, continuously powering it. It's even possible that future versions of the robot might be able to harvest energy from radio frequency signals, using more advanced microcontrollers to autonomously perform tasks in places that traditionally larger drones couldn't go. 2. Tiny Robotic Crab What's more, the crab-shaped robot does all of this without any actuators, motors, hydraulics or electricity. The world's smallest remote-controlled robot is controlled using lasers. The engineers built it using a special-shaped memory alloy that transforms into a particular shape in its memory when heat is applied. The researchers use a focused laser beam to apply localized heat to different parts of the tiny robot in a particular sequence. Due to the properties of the alloy and the small shape of the robot, each limb cools down really fast after heat is no longer applied. As the shape of different limbs changes due to the heating and cooling, the robot moves in a particular way, depending on the sequence in which the laser is applied. 1. Black Hornet The Black Hornet is a tactical pocket-sized reconnaissance UAV, unmanned aerial vehicle, manufactured by the American company FLIR Systems. It is designed to assist dismounted soldiers deployed on the battlefield. It enhances the situational awareness of the soldiers by acting as a dismounted covert soldier, delivering all the key data on surroundings and will spy on enemy movements to ensure the safety of frontline soldiers. The Black Hornet features a rotor diameter of 123 mm and a length of 168 mm. It weighs no more than 33 grams and offers the best-in-class audio and visual detection signature. Teledyne FLIR Defense has delivered more than 20,000 Black Hornet Nano UAVs to defense and security forces worldwide.