We've watched as a " pocket-sized drone dubbed the Nano Hummingbird" flitted around.
Now, here's another tiny robot flier, but this one mimics the movements of a jellyfish. New Scientist says it just may be "more stable in the air than insect-like machines."
The little machine was created by researchers at New York University. According to New Scientist, "the design should be especially useful for making centimeter-scale robots that drift through the air."
The Washington Post's Innovations blog writes that:
"Leif Ristroph wanted to build the 'simplest possible' flying machine. The applied mathematician at New York University glued together several tubes of carbon fiber to build this: a sphere with four wings attached to it that propels it as a jellyfish swims."The flyer is only about eight centimeters in diameter — small enough to fit in the palm of your hand — and its mass is only about two grams, the equivalent of two paper clips."
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