

Robot Insect

Robot gives clues on evolution of flight @ TG Daily.

A tiny robot insect has given support to the idea that the first flying creatures were tree-dwellers.

A six-legged, one-ounce robot has shown that while flapping wings help a creature run faster, it’s unlikely that they could have given it enough speed to take off from the ground.

The flapping wings increased the speed of the running robot by 90 percent, going from 0.68 m/s to 1.29 m/s, and also enabled it to climb steeper gradients, increasing from a 5.6° ascent to a 16.9° ascent.

Phillip Torrone
