Watch: This flying robot can mimic the speed and agility of fruit flies
DeFly Nimble can help study how fruit flies can escape aggressive attempts to swat them.
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If you have ever tried to swat a fly you know quick and agile they can be. Researchers have now made a robot that mimics the rapid flight of these insects.
The autonomous flying robot, called DeFly Nimble, was developed by researchers at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. It is expected to improve our understanding of how fruit flies can manage such aggressive manoeuvres while escaping.
According to the research published in the journal Science, the wings of DeFly Nimble beat 17 times per second to enable it to stay airborne, and minor adjustments in the wing motion control its flight (video above).