Technorati top tech blog New Scientist shared a recent post about a unique flying robot that has gotten quite a bit of attention online.
Created by New York University's Leif Ristroph and several associates, the very simple four-winged robot has been likened to a jellyfish in the way it seems to "swim" through the air.
One of the things you may note right away is the lack of mechanics inside the transparent flyer. It's got a small motor, powering simple levers to make the wings beat in unison. No circuitry, either — the jellyfish flyer appears to self-correct its path.
Although the flyer is tethered to the ground in order to have a power supply, Ristroph is confident that it can be optimized with its own renewable source (solar power, perhaps?) and provided feedback and control mechanisms to make it go where we want.
Air monitoring systems, disaster assessment, covert operations, and more. Such a tiny, delicate device might soon be taking to our skies in a myriad of ways...
Read the full article at New Scientist here.
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