Imagine a future where tiny, insect-inspired flying robots handle disaster scenarios like earthquakes, darting through debris and navigating spaces where larger drones or machines can’t reach. Given their size and agility, these microrobots could perform real-time maneuvering to dodge falling rubble. While the notion may feel like science fiction, advancements from MIT are bringing us steps closer to turning it into reality.
Up until recently, the speed and maneuverability of these microrobots couldn’t quite compete with real insects. They could fly but lacked the agility needed in a dynamic environment. But all that is now changing. Engineers at MIT have developed an AI-based control system that significantly enhances the performance of these mini flyers. It’s a commendable breakthrough in that the robots can now execute rapid, complex maneuvers and exhibit bug-like aerial acrobatics, such as 10 somersaults in as short as 11 seconds.
A novel two-part control scheme is the secret behind this accomplishment. It expertly balances high performance with computational efficiency, increasing the robots’ speed by a whopping 450% and their acceleration by 250%. Associate professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Kevin Chen, visualizes their robots navigating areas traditional quadcopters have trouble flying into, just like bugs.
For over five years, Chen’s lab has been developing robotic insects roughly the size of a microcassette and lighter than a paperclip. The robots are powered by soft, artificial muscles that flap their wings at incredible speeds. Yet, the bot’s “brain” or controller was manually tuned by engineers, thereby limiting its responsiveness and agility. To overcome this, the team designed an AI-driven controller in collaboration with Professor Jonathan P. How and his lab. The two-step approach that resulted includes a powerful model-predictive controller to plan complex flight paths, and a deep learning policy trained by imitation, used to execute those plans in real time.
Die Verschmelzung von Hardware-Fortschritten und verbesserten Steuerungsalgorithmen haben dem Roboter die Fähigkeit verliehen, wendige Manöver mit bemerkenswerter Präzision durchzuführen. In Tests führte er 10 kontinuierliche Saltos aus und blieb dabei nur 4 bis 5 Zentimeter von seiner geplanten Flugbahn entfernt, selbst bei Windböen und Komplikationen durch ein Stromseil, das sich während des Fluges um ihn wickelte. Das Team hat seine Leistung als einen Schritt in Richtung zukünftiger Roboter in Insektengröße mit einer Agilität, die der eines biologischen Gegenstücks ähnelt, bezeichnet.
Not only this, but their study also saw a replication of a flight behavior known as “saccade movement” observed in insects. It rapidly pitches and decelerates to localize and stabilize vision – a functionality that could aid in equipping microrobots with onboard cameras and sensors for outdoor, autonomous navigation. Chen shares his excitement about exploring how onboard sensing could support collision avoidance and coordinated navigation among multiple bots.
Die Forscher sehen die Integration ähnlicher Fähigkeiten an Bord des Roboters selbst in zukünftigen Iterationen vor, selbst bei begrenzten Rechenressourcen. Für die Mikrorobotik-Gemeinschaft könnte dies einen großen Schritt in Richtung völlig autonomer Flugroboter in Insektengröße bedeuten.
Industry experts already see the potential in this research. Sarah Bergbreiter, a professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon unrelated to the study, lauded it as a pointer to future insect-scale robots with agility matching their biological counterparts. It’s only a matter of time before we witness the realization of this science fiction-inspired technology emancipating and making huge strides in our world.
Diese bahnbrechende Forschung wurde von der National Science Foundation, dem Office of Naval Research, dem Air Force Office of Scientific Research, MathWorks und dem Zakhartchenko Fellowship unterstützt. Weitere Informationen über diesen bemerkenswerten Durchbruch finden Sie auf der Original-Pressemitteilung.
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