Robotic insect takes to the air

April 12, 2001 | Source: BBC News

Engineers at Monrovia, California-based AeroVironment have test-flown a prototype of the world’s first robotic insect.

The eight-inches-long “Microbat” is an ornithopter (flaps its wings like a bat). Its ultra-light wings are built out of a thin polythene film and carbon-fibre skeleton.

The design objective: a craft that can fly slowly, change direction with ease and hover in the corner of a room.