Flight mechanics: Does robofly live up to its name?

<p>More than a century after the Wright brothers managed to get a rudimentary craft airborne for a short distance, the mechanics of flight still hold mysteries.</p><separator></separator><p>One of them is demonstrated in research involving a “robofly,” a free-flying robotic insect, by Michele Milano, an assistant professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, Chemical and Materials Engineering.</p><separator></separator><p>Last year a Harvard University team demonstrated the first take-off of a robofly by using a model mounted on guide wires.  A recent article in New Scientist magazine describes Milano's testing to explore what forces actually enable a robofly to take flight.</p><separator></separator><p>Is it simply the mechanical wings? Is it the vibration of guide wires? Or a combination of both?</p><separator></separator><p>Milano and his team fashioned a testing device made of a motor, metal tubes and wires that got a version of a robofly without wings to elevate.</p><separator></separator><p>The experiment suggests a robofly’s power of flight owes more to factors such as the vibration frequency and resonant frequency of the wires.</p><separator></separator><p>It’s an intriguing result of particular interest to engineers who see the potential for tiny free-flying robots in developing new technologies for things such as security surveillance or search-and-rescue operations.</p><separator></separator><p>Read details in the New Scientist article <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327185.700-robotic-insect-fligh… insect 'flight' may be just good vibrations</a></p><separator></separator><p><a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327185.700-robotic-insect-fligh…;