Scientists from Virginia Tech have been studying fruit bats to help them in producing a design for small flying robots.
Danesh Tafti, a mechanical engineering professor from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Virginia Tech is one of the scientists working to model small robotic flying vehicles related to bats. He already envisions what these new robots would be capable of doing although this research is still in its early stages.
"They've got a lot of flexibility and very accurate control. They can move their fingers and fine tune their flapping. I haven't seen any birds that can do that," Tafti told IT World.
The earliest prototypes could measure around 8 to 12 inches long and could weigh around 3.5 to 7 ounces. These flying robots could be used individually or as a swarm for military tactics and rescue operations. However, they estimated that it could take them around three to five years before producing a prototype that could navigate through a room.
Tafti and his team are not the only ones looking for examples in nature in developing new robots.
Australian scientists have been studying honeybees in order to build agile tiny flying robots that are fuel efficient.
Mandyam Srinivasan, faculty member from the University of Queensland's Brain Institute said, to IT World, "The bees are living proof that it's possible to engineer airborne vehicles that are agile, navigationally competent, weigh less than 100 milligrams, and can fly around the world using the energy given by an ounce of honey."
Other researchers have made robotic designs inspired by nature such as a snake-like robot from Carnegie Mellon University. This robot can crawl through narrow spaces and navigate through hard-to-reach places.
Another example could be self-camouflaging robots that could perform squid-like movements and robots which could swim by using fins similar to those found in knife fish.
