MIT: Robot bees

History

2025: Product Announcement

In mid-January 2025, American specialists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced the development of robotic bees with a special design. These tiny machines are capable of pollinating the garden in 15 minutes. Farmers have already begun testing the technology.

The wings of the robotic insect are powered by artificial muscles - miniature drives made of elastomer layers and carbon nanotubes. Such actuators are compressed and lengthened at high speed, creating the mechanical force required for swings. In the mini-robots of the previous generation, there was a problem of bending the structural elements, which led to a decrease in power and efficiency. To eliminate this drawback, the developers have applied a special transmission that prevents bending and reduces deformation.

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Фото: interestingengineering.com

Another feature of the development is special wing hinges about 2 cm long and 200 microns in diameter, which minimize torsional stress during movement. The manufacture of these elements required high-precision multi-step laser cutting. The use of such hinges made it possible to improve flight stability.

The robot bee can hover for more than 1,000 seconds and fly at speeds up to 35 cm/s. It is capable of performing coups and complex maneuvers, such as repeating a predetermined trajectory. The design provides for the possibility of installing certain sensors.

The robotic insect can fly significantly faster than similar bots, while performing acrobatic maneuvers such as double air flips, the report said.

At the same time, it is noted that, despite the demonstrated achievements, the robot bee is still out of reach of the capabilities of its natural analogues. But in the future, the novelty can be used, in particular, for pollination of plants in multi-level greenhouses.^[1]

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