7 Drone Robots Inspired by Animals & Insects - Susanne Posel | Susanne Posel

7 Drone Robots Inspired by Animals & Insects - Susanne Posel | Susanne Posel:

A team of researchers at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (V-Tech) have created small robots that use bats as their template for flying through the air.

Danesh Tafti, professor of mechanical engineering at V-Tech explained: “There is a lot of interest in recent years in making mico air vehicles. We look at flying creatures for inspiration. Bats are quite unusual. They’ve got a lot of flexibility and very accurate control. They can move their fingers and fine tune their flapping. I haven’t seen any birds that can do that.”

Modeling small robotic flying vehicles after bats has opened up opportunities for these researchers to suppose the possibility that these machines could perform search and rescue missions after an earthquake.

The robots are 8 to 12 inches long and weigh 3.5 to 7 ounces.