According to the US Fun Science website recently reported, the first wireless flying machine insects fluttered off! For the first time, American scientists have developed the "RoboFly" to fly independently. This may be just a small vibration of a micro-robot, but it is a big leap in the whole robot field.
"Machine Fly" was developed by the University of Washington research team and has the same weight as a toothpick. According to the team, existing flying machine insects still need a wire to connect to the ground, because the electronics they need to drive and control the wings are too heavy, and these micro-machines can't carry them. The "machine fly" is driven by the laser pointer light and comes with a "brain."
The researchers explained that the biggest challenge facing the development of insect-sized flying machines comes from flapping. Patting the wings is a very power-hungry process. The power supply and the controller that guides the wings are large and bulky, and small machines cannot carry them. Therefore, the "RoboBee" previously developed by the team must be connected to its power supply and controller via ground wires.
But the flying robots should be able to operate autonomously, so they decided to use a thin, invisible laser pointer to power the robot. They pointed the laser beam at a photovoltaic cell on top of the "machine fly" that converts the laser into electricity. But the laser alone does not provide enough voltage to move the wings, so they designed a circuit that boosts the 7 volt output of the photovoltaic cell to 240 volts required for flight.
In order for the "machine fly" to control the wings autonomously, the researchers also gave it a "brain": a microcontroller was added to the same circuit. Microcontrollers act like a "machine fly" brain, giving instructions to the wings such as "Currently tapping" or "Don't shoot."
This insect-sized laser pointer flying robot can help with time-consuming tasks such as monitoring crop growth on large farms or sniffing leaks. In addition, such robots have low manufacturing costs and are easy to drill into places where large drones cannot reach, so they have broad application prospects.