Insect-Inspired Flying Robot Bounces Back After Collisions

Flying insects, such as fruit flies, bees, dragonflies and mosquitoes, can dart through narrow spaces and survive collisions with various objects. In contrast, many flying robots fall, suffer damage or even break down when they hit nearby surfaces or objects.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) have developed a tiny robot that could better replicate the resilience of flying insects. The new robot, presented in a paper published in Science Robotics, could potentially explore areas that are difficult for other robots or humans to reach, recovering quickly after collisions.

"Our lab has been developing soft robotics for years. We were inspired by how flying insects survive collisions and other physical disturbances," Qibing Pei, senior author of the paper, told Tech Xplore. "Many insect-sized robots rely on fragile components, which makes operating beyond the laboratory difficult. We saw an opportunity to use electrically responsive polymer materials to create a simpler, more resilient design."

A flexible and tiny insect-inspired robot

The authors of the paper wanted to build a more resilient micro aerial vehicle, a tiny flying robot that could be used to observe or inspect environments that are difficult to reach. Their goal was to ensure that the robot generated enough lift to take off from the ground while also surviving impacts with other objects and compression in confined spaces.

The robot they developed is made entirely from polymers, materials consisting of long chains of linked molecules. It weighs just 185 milligrams (0.0065 ounces; less than one-fifth of a gram), combining an electrically driven, soft "muscle" with flexible, cone-shaped wings.

"The 'muscle' of the wings is a thin film of a relaxor ferroelectric polymer," said Yuan Zhu, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA and first author of the paper. "The electric field-induced expansion of the material, technically known as electrostriction, is both giant and reversible. We can harness the movement of the film to deliver powerful flapping motions with a very fast response."

"The polymer-based muscle bends rapidly to flap the wings directly, eliminating the need for a separate mechanical transmission," explained Hanxiang Wu, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA and the other co-first author of the paper.

"The aerodynamically asymmetric geometry and partial wing deformations during each wingbeat enable the wings to generate upward lift, while their flexibility also allows them to deform under contact. The wing materials used are not prone to creasing, making them resilient to impact."

The researchers created an initial prototype of their insect-inspired robot, which receives electrical power via external wires. They then ran a series of tests, assessing its ability to take off without assistance, withstand compression under heavy loads and resume flight after collisions, while also measuring its average upward speed.

The researchers showed that the robot could generate lift equal to three times its own weight, taking off without assistance and ascending at an average speed of 40 cm per second (16 inches per second). In addition, the robot could resume flight after being hit with a flyswatter or flattened under loads approximately 11,000 times its own weight.

Next steps for improving and testing the robot

In initial tests, the new insect-inspired robot was found to be highly resilient, despite its relatively simple design. This resilience, along with its flexibility and flight capabilities, could make it a promising platform for various real-world applications.

In the future, an improved version of the robot with its own onboard power source, flight control components and sensors could be used to monitor natural environments, search for survivors of disasters in confined spaces and inspect hazardous areas. Its ability to resume flight after collisions could be particularly advantageous for completing missions in areas that are out of reach for humans, where operators might be unable to recover it.

"Our robot generated lift up to three times its own weight and could fly again after being struck or flattened," said Wenzhong Yan, co-senior author of the paper.

"To me, this illustrates 'mechanical intelligence': useful responses built into the materials and structure, such as passively adapting wing morphology to generate lift and deforming under contact and recovering afterward. That approach could help tiny flying robots withstand the unpredictable interactions they would encounter outside the laboratory."

This recent study contributes to ongoing efforts aimed at developing more resilient flying robots for real-world applications. Pei, Yan and their colleagues are now planning to continue broadening and improving their robot's capabilities.

The next priorities for the authors will be improving flight control, including turning and landing, and increasing payload capacity. They also want to move toward a self-contained robot with onboard power, control electronics and sensing.

In the longer term, they are interested in testing their robot for specific applications including environmental monitoring, agricultural pollination and search and rescue. This will require further development, although the robot's resilience could be an essential step toward its reliable operation in real environments.

Written for you by our author Ingrid Fadelli, edited by Sadie Harley, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.

Publication details

Yuan Zhu et al., Takeoff of an all-polymer micro aerial flying robot, Science Robotics (2026). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.aed8148.

Who's behind this story?

Ingrid Fadelli

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Sadie Harley

BSc Life Sciences & Ecology. Microbiology lab background with pharmaceutical news experience in oil, gas, and renewable industries. Full profile →

Robert Egan

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