Modular and Scalable Fabrication of Insect‐Scale Aerial Robots toward Demonstrating Swarm Flights

Insects can navigate in cluttered spaces and perform challenging functions such as pollination collective object transport. By exploiting scaling laws bioinspired designs, insect-scale micro-aerial-vehicles (MAVs) have demonstrated impressive flight capabilities in-flight collision resilience acrobatic maneuvers. However, existing subgram MAVs are difficult to design, construct, repair. Coupled with challenges robot sensing control, not achieved insect-like swarm flight, which limits potential studies of behaviors future applications sensing. Herein, a new design fabrication method is developed substantially improve the scalability MAVs. Based on small set parameters, an automated algorithm generates laser cut files microrobotic components. To reduce assembly time, stereolithographic 3D printing used for making static components airframe connectors. The modular enables straightforward repair, reduces overall time by over 2 times. Owing ease good reliability, two demonstrate controlled hovering coordinated lifting object. This result lays foundation robotic insect flight.