You may have heard that bees are disappearing. As they are key pollinators for the maintenance of the entire ecosystem of the planet, this disappearance is at least disturbing.
But now, scientists at Harvard University seem to have the solution: use little robots inspired insects to lend a helping hand in pollination - the RoboBees (something like RobôAbelha).
The creation, still a prototype, also promises to reinvent what we know as drones.
The Robobee name is not only a cute nickname: the little machine actually copies the characteristics of bees.
His wings, for example, beat separately, allowing the flight is operated, and its size and weight are almost the same insects - 3 cm long and 80 mg.
In addition, the robot intersperses short flights with landings to rest, just as bees do in nature.
This flight plan robots help solve the energy expenditure of the problem, which is huge to keep a machine in the air.
Instead of floating all the time, the Robobee just need to fly to get close enough to an area where he can land.
He then uses static electricity - the same thing that happens when you rub a balloon to stick it on the wall - to settle on almost anywhere: walls, plants, glass, wood and so on.
In tests, scientists were carrying the robot with static energy, but the next step is to find a way to get it to recharge yourself.
For now, researchers are only interested in reducing the maximum energy costs - and succeeded: the little robot just needed a refill to stay stuck in a sheet without falling.
The project has existed since 2013 but only now scientists had the idea of using static electricity to copy the breaks between flights of bees.
If the prototype is forward, the robotic insects could have many other uses beyond pollination espionage, security, collection of scientific data and to search for missing persons - or anything else that is unattainable for humans or for drones .
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