LARGER THAN LIFE: This RoboBee is magnified to show detail; turn the page to view at actual size.
Image: Travis Rathbone
In Brief
- RoboBees are flying robots the size of bees. Their size presents a huge assortment of physical and computational challenges. At such small dimensions, off-the-shelf parts such as motors and bearings will prove too inefficient, so the bees must employ specially designed artificial muscles to power and control flight.
- In addition, the tiny bees must think on their own, using miniature sensors to process environmental cues and processors to make decisions on what to do next.
- Like real bees, RoboBees will work best when employed as swarms of thousands of individuals, coordinating their actions without relying on a single leader. The hive must be resilient enough so that the group can complete its objectives even if many bees fail.
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A RoboBee Takes Off [VIDEO]
Not too long ago a mysterious affliction called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) began to wipe out honeybee hives. These bees are responsible for most commercial pollination in the U.S., and their loss provoked fears that agriculture might begin to suffer as well. In 2009 the three of us, along with colleagues at Harvard University and Northeastern University, began to seriously consider what it would take to create a robotic bee colony. We wondered if mechanical bees could replicate not just an individual's behavior but the unique behavior that emerges out of interactions among thousands of bees. We have now created the first RoboBees—flying bee-size robots—and are working on methods to make thousands of them cooperate like a real hive.
Superficially, the task appears nearly impossible. Bees have been sculpted by millions of years of evolution into incredible flying machines. Their tiny bodies can fly for hours, maintain stability during wind gusts, seek out flowers and avoid predators. Try that with a nickel-size robot.
This article was originally published with the title Flight of the robobees.
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4 Comments
Add CommentThis is remarkable technology in that it must address many issues in new ways. The work will undoubtedly add to the knowledge of miniaturization, control, motion, manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence and coordination of multiple robots.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe lack of transmitters and receivers may be overcome by visual cues given by an external manager with special actions given in reply (like tipping their wings or bouncing up and down or making figures in the sky).
Speaking of transmitters, think of what you could observe if these robobees had the ability to transmit video. Then add in ubiquity and make them cheap and easy to construct. How will the world adapt to the coming loss of privacy?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile the technology to create small remote controlled drones is impressive, there is a subtext here that the potential for catastrophic die-offs of bees (currently being seen and studied in the pages of SA) can be replaced by machines. The fact is, we have damaged our global ecosystem to such a degree that bees are in danger of being eliminated through causes most likely brought about through human intervention - chemical pollution being the likely suspect. We are best focused on eliminating the ecosystem imbalances - pollution - that technology brings about rather than simply thinking we can replace natural processes. Those same processes are complex and interdependent. Technology has brought us to this place of natural degradation - along with overpopulation, overuse of resources, and non-organic farming. Best to focus our energies on how to stop and repair the poisoning of our environment rather that an illusory technology fix.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile the technology to create small remote controlled drones is impressive, there is a subtext here that the potential for catastrophic die-offs of bees (currently being seen and studied in the pages of SA) can be replaced by machines. The fact is, we have damaged our global ecosystem to such a degree that bees are in danger of being eliminated through causes most likely brought about through human intervention - chemical pollution being the likely suspect. We are best focused on eliminating the ecosystem imbalances - pollution - that technology brings about rather than simply thinking we can replace natural processes. Those same processes are complex and interdependent. Technology has brought us to this place of natural degradation - along with overpopulation, overuse of resources, and non-organic farming. Best to focus our energies on how to stop and repair the poisoning of our environment rather that an illusory technology fix.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this