This fast and agile robotic insect could someday aid in mechanical pollination

MIT researchers are developing robotic insects that could someday swarm out of mechanical hives to rapidly perform precise pollination. But even the best bug-sized robots are no match for natural pollinators like bees when it comes to endurance, speed and maneuverability.

Now, inspired by the anatomy of these natural pollinators, the researchers have overhauled their design to produce tiny, aerial robots that are far more agile and durable than prior versions.

The new bots can hover for about 1,000 seconds, which is more than 100 times longer than previously demonstrated. The robotic insect, which weighs less than a paperclip, can fly significantly faster than similar bots while completing acrobatic maneuvers like double aerial flips.

The revamped robot is designed to boost flight precision and agility while minimizing the mechanical stress on its artificial wing flexures, which enables faster maneuvers, increased endurance and a longer lifespan.

The new design also has enough free space that the robot could carry tiny batteries or sensors, which could enable it to fly on its own outside the lab.

“With the improved lifespan and precision of this robot, we are getting closer to some very exciting applications, like assisted pollination,” says Kevin Chen, head of MIT’s Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory within the institute's Research Laboratory of Electronics.

Prior versions of the robotic insect were composed of four identical units, each with two wings, combined into a rectangular device about the size of a microcassette.

With the new design, each of the four identical units has one flapping wing pointing away from the robot’s center, stabilizing the wings and boosting their lift forces. This design also frees up space so the robot could carry electronics.

Yet even with these design innovations, there is still a gap between the best robotic insects and the real thing. For instance, a bee has only two wings, yet it can perform rapid and highly controlled motions.

“The wings of bees are finely controlled by a very sophisticated set of muscles. That level of fine-tuning is something that truly intrigues us, but we have not yet been able to replicate,” he says.

The motion of the robot’s wings is driven by artificial muscles. These tiny, soft actuators are made from layers of elastomer sandwiched between two very thin carbon nanotube electrodes and then rolled into a squishy cylinder. The actuators rapidly compress and elongate, generating mechanical force that flaps the wings.

Chen and his students want to see how far they can push this new design, with the goal of achieving flight for longer than 10,000 seconds.

They also want to improve the precision of the robots so they could land and take off from the center of a flower.

This article appeared in the January/February 2025 issue of Produce Grower magazine under the headline "Buzzworthy discovery."

Adam Zewe is a writer in the MIT News Office. Contact him at azewe@mit.edu.