An MIT professor has developed insect-sized drones that very resilient to external shocks.

MIT Assistant Professor Kevin Yufeng Chen has developed small drones that are powered by soft “actuators” instead of conventional motors.  These actuators are capable of absorbing and recovering from collisions, high winds, and drops, much like those pesky mosquitos that keep returning after you’ve swatted them away. Because of this resilience, and their small size, these mini drones are capable of many tasks that larger drones cannot accomplish. (MIT News)

Big is not necessarily better says MIT

Professor Chen wanted to address the challenge of building drones that could navigate cluttered, complex spaces. Unfortunately, this cannot be accomplished by simply scaling down large drones – their motors become inefficient as they get smaller.

The conventional solution to the problem is to use rigid but fragile actuators made of piezoelectric ceramic materials. However, this solution is not workable in an environment full of flight risks – such as those faced by a foraging bumblebee for example.

Chen created soft actuators made from thin rubber cylinders coated in carbon nanotubes. Electric impulses cause the nanotubes to alternatively squeeze or elongate the cylinders. This physical movement, when performed rapidly, can drive the drone’s wings to flap like those of an insect.

Finally, a small and light drone from MIT

The actuators on Chen’s drone, which is as light as 0.6 grams, flap 500 times per second, giving it insect-like capabilities. “You can hit it when it’s flying, and it can recover,” says Chen. “It can also do aggressive maneuvers like somersaults in the air.”

See in this video how the drone flies, using a wired power source.

One challenge remains. The actuators need high operating voltage and the prototype, therefore works on wired power. However, for untethered flight in the real world, the researchers would need to reduce operating voltage.

Applications

One payoff from the project is a greater understanding of the mechanics of insect flight, a subject of intense researcher interest.

But more practical applications are possible, such as in industry, agriculture, and search-and-rescue missions.

“Think about the inspection of a turbine engine,” says MIT’s Chen. “You’d want a drone to move around [an enclosed space] with a small camera to check for cracks on the turbine plates.”

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