In the past few years, we have seen plenty of amazing nature inspired robots. A team of MIT researchers has developed tiny agile drones that act and move like actual inspects to operate in cramped spaces. These tiny drones have soft actuators made “of rubber cylinders coated in carbon nanotubes. When voltage is applied to the carbon nanotubes, they produce an electrostatic force that squeezes and elongates the rubber cylinder. Repeated elongation and contraction causes the drone’s wings to beat fast.”
The actuators can flap 500 times per second, which allows for recovery. The drone weighs only 0.6 grams. The above video shows it in action.
[HT]