Engineers from the University of California, Berkeley, have developed the world's smallest flying robot—less than 1 centimeter in size—that can be wirelessly controlled and guided toward a target.
Inspired by the movements of bees, the robot can hover in the air, change direction, and hit small targets.
Weighing just 21 milligrams, it is also the smallest wireless robot capable of controlled flight.
POWERED BY EXTERNAL MAGNETIC FIELD
The robot's flight is made possible by two tiny magnets inside it. An externally applied magnetic field moves these magnets, causing the robot to spin.
This spinning motion generates enough lift for the robot to take off.
Its flight direction and speed can be controlled by adjusting the strength of the magnetic field, enabling the robot to be directed toward a specific target.
Professor Liwei Lin, senior author of the study and a mechanical engineering expert, said: "Bees have extraordinary flight abilities like navigation, hovering, and pollination. Our robot can target and return just like a bee collecting nectar from a flower."
MICROROBOTS COULD TAKE ON NEW MISSIONS
Engineer Fanping Sui, a contributor to the study, stated that such robots could be used for exploration in small gaps and access to tight spaces.
They could also be useful in agricultural applications such as artificial pollination or inspecting the interiors of pipelines.
Though the robot currently lacks real-time sensing systems and operates with passive flight, meaning sudden environmental changes—like a strong gust of wind—can alter its direction, the research team plans to equip future versions with active control systems for real-time position and movement sensing.
SMALLER AND SMARTER ROBOTS ON THE WAY
Currently, the robot requires a strong electromagnetic field to operate, but when miniaturized below 1 millimeter, it could be controlled with weaker fields.
This opens the door for micro-robots that can be guided using radio waves.
The research team is also working on ant-like robot swarms that can cooperate, form chains, and complete tasks that would be impossible alone.
They envision these robots being used in medicine, particularly for minimally invasive surgeries.
