Flying robots inspired by the fruit fly

Have you ever tried to catch a fly? A young boy from the USA built a flying robot that knows how to run away like a fly

By: Ofir Marom

Have you ever tried to catch a fly? A young boy from the USA built a flying robot that knows how to run away like a fly.

The field of flying robots is developing rapidly. More and more types of such robots are integrated into our lives for different uses. The robots, which float in space autonomously, must be able to deal with changing environmental conditions that cannot be predicted in advance, and respond quickly to threats that could harm them physically. For example, a robot that locates survivors inside collapsed buildings has to deal with falling walls, which change the operating space and may even physically damage it and disable it.

Mohir Grimla, a XNUMXth grade student, a robotics and computer enthusiast from the USA, chose to face exactly this challenge. Mohir took part in the "Science Fair" competition held every year by Google. This is a competition for teenagers from all over the world, in which they research in a variety of fields such as agriculture, life sciences, medicine and more and develop solutions to real problems. Despite his young age, Mohair Grimla has an impressive record in the field of research and development. He won several different science competitions, and even met with President Obama thanks to his many achievements.

Mohir decided to develop a robot capable of avoiding threats and chose the fruit fly as a source of inspiration. According to him, the choice of a fly as a model was mainly due to the fact that it knows how to quickly and efficiently escape from a place it recognizes as dangerous. In fact, the escape of the fruit fly takes only about 288 milliseconds, less than the blink of a human eye. In addition, the fruit fly does this with the most basic vision system, comparable in its resolution to a camera of X2626 pixels, and a simple brain made of only 100,000 neurons (about one millionth of the complexity of the human brain). For his achievements in this project, Mohir won the first prize for ages 13-14.

The research was divided into two phases. In the first phase, an array of sensors will be built, which will be able to detect an approaching threat. Mohir chose to use simple distance sensors that work using the infrared method. He chose these sensors because of their light weight, and after it turned out that even the simplest camera on the market today provides a large amount of information compared to the fly's basic visual system. The selected sensors were mounted on a platform of a flying robot, which has a four-bladed rotor. In the second step, the algorithm was written according to which the robot-fly operates after the sensors detect a threat. The algorithm is based on studies, which found that the fruit fly takes several characteristic actions during its escape. Mohir connected all the parts of the robot and built a prototype, which he tested in his parents' living room, as he ran after it and tried to hit it with a wooden board. The new robot-fly behaved very similar to a real fruit fly, escaping all attempts with 100% success.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ3d_SzntTs
In Israel, too, there is an educational program on biomimicry for elementary school students, in grades XNUMX-XNUMX. As part of the program, students are exposed to the field, learn and practice the biomimetic way of thinking and the tools required to develop biomimetic innovation. They study phenomena and processes in nature, offer solutions and build models. The program ends every year with a festive conference in Ramat Handiv, presenting the models and developments achieved during the year inspired by nature.

The program is open to elementary schools and we invite other schools to face challenges in this area.
For more information about the program: Info@biomimicry.org.il
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