Inspired by fireflies, researchers from MIT have created insect-scale robots that can emit light while flying and enable motion tracking and communication.
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“This is a major step toward flying these robots in outdoor environments where we don’t have a well-tuned, state-of-the-art motion tracking system,” Kevin Chen, head of the Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), MIT, said in a research report.
These robots weigh barely more than a paper clip, and they can be tracked using the light they emit and three smartphone cameras.
Fireflies use their luminescence for communication — to attract a mate, ward off predators, or lure prey. Researchers have used the same concept to build these robots which are said to communicate with each other through the light-emitting feature, the report noted.
For instance, if sent on a search-and-rescue mission in a collapsed building, a robot that finds survivors could use lights to signal others and call for help, according to the report.
The robots’ wings are controlled by tiny artificial muscles known as soft actuators that emit colored light during the flight.
Researchers have used zinc sulphate particles to light up these actuators . However, the zinc particles only light up in the presence of a very strong and high-frequency electric field. This electric field excites the electrons in the zinc particles, which then emit subatomic particles of light known as photons, the report noted.
Researchers used high voltage to create a strong electric field in the soft actuator, and then drive the robot at a high frequency, which enables the particles to light up.
Researchers ran flight tests using a motion-tracking system. Each actuator could be tracked using iPhone cameras. The cameras detect each light color, and a computer program tracks the position of the robots to within 2 millimeters of the infrared motion capture systems.
Researchers plan to enhance that motion tracking system so it can track robots in real-time in the future.
“The team is working to develop control signals to enable the robots to turn their light on and off during flight and communicate more like real fireflies”, added Chen
