pop up robotic bee by harvard students

pop up robotic bee by harvard students

<p>the bee folds up with one quick movement similar to a pop-up book, requiring no assembly. attached are titanium wings, which, when applied to an external power source, are able to move at 1 or 30 hertz. </p>

‘monolithic bee’ by students at the harvard microrobotics laboratory 

students at the harvard microrobotics laboratory have developed a robotic bee known as ‘monolithic bee’ or ‘mobee’. the insect is printed from layers of carbon-fiber and plastic. the combination allows for joints which are sturdy but bendable. the bee folds up with one quick movement similar to a pop-up book, thus requiring no assembly. attached are titanium wings, which,  when applied to an external power source, are able to move at 1 or 30 hertz. 

this newly developed process of printing MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) can be applied to a large number of robotic devices, and is well suited to pass production. 

pop up robotic bee by harvard students - 1 an american coin shows the scale of the robot bee 

pop up robotic bee by harvard students - 2 the flapping of the wings

pop up robotic bee by harvard students - 3 detail of folding mechanism 

harvard monolithic bee (mobee)

via boingboing