Germany’s Festo unveils robotic dragonfly BionicOpter

Phys.org reported on April 1, 2013, on BionicOpter, a robotic dragonfly developed by Festo. It is about 19 inches long, has a wingspan of about 27 inches and weighs 175 grams. It can fly forward and backward, hover and move sideways. Festo plans to demonstrate it at Hannover Messe.

The specific capability confirmed by the announcement is that a single flying robot can switch among forward flight, backward flight, hovering and sideways movement. As an attempt to reproduce in one machine a style of flight different from that of airplanes and helicopters, it offers researchers in robotics and mechanical design a way to assess how much insect flight can be replicated mechanically, particularly for precise control of posture and direction in confined spaces.