Flying robots are among the most challenging domains of robotics, but the achievement of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) assistant professor Kevin Yufeng Chen and team is exciting news. The researchers have built a new generation of tiny, agile drones, allowing them to operate in cramped spaces and withstand collisions.
Chen, a member of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and the Research Laboratory of Electronics, has developed insect-sized drones with unprecedented dexterity and resilience. The aerial robots are powered by a new class of soft actuator, which allows them to withstand the physical travails of real-world flight.
Chen hopes the robots could one day aid humans by pollinating crops or performing machinery inspections in cramped spaces.
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