Dragonfly robot. Free Technical Library News

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dragonfly robot

26.08.2008

Dutch engineers have created a flying robot weighing three grams.

The new dragonfly robot named "DelFly Micro", weighing three grams and with a wingspan of ten centimeters, continues the series of flying robots being developed at the Delft Institute of Technology. Its predecessors - "DelFly I" and "DelFly II" - were larger: 23 g and 50 cm, as well as 16 g and 30 cm, respectively. The new robot is capable, obeying the operator's signal, to flutter like a dragonfly and transmit a video image using a miniature camera. And the batteries are enough for him for three minutes of flight at a speed of 5 m / s.

For the sake of weight reduction, something had to be sacrificed: "DelFly II" could not only fly horizontally, but hover over a certain point and move backwards. The new robot does not yet know how, but it is able to get into the most secluded place and show the researchers what is there. After some time, it will be equipped with a pattern recognition system, and it will be able to fly completely independently.

This robot was an important step towards the goal set by the Dutch roboticists: to make an artificial dragonfly weighing one gram and with a wingspan of 5 cm.

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