By constantly adjusting the effect of lift and thrust acting on its body at an incredibly high speed, the insect’s (and the robot’s) wings enable it to hover, or to perform sudden evasive manoeuvres.
And just like a real fly, the robot’s thin, flexible wings beat approximately 120 times every second.
The researchers achieved this wing speed with special substance called piezoelectric material, which contracts every time a voltage is applied to it.
By very rapidly switching the voltage on and off, the scientists were able to make this material behave like just like the tiny muscles that makes a fly’s wings beat so fast.
As an insect’s wings move through the air, they are held at a slight angle, deflecting the air downward.
This deflection means the air flows faster over the wing than underneath, causing air pressure to build up beneath the wings, while the pressure above the wings is reduced. It is this difference in pressure that produces lift.
And the video:
This couldn’t possibly have any nefarious uses… Could it?










