MIT researchers create firefly-like light emitting robots

Researchers from MIT have created robots, capable of emitting light while flying, motion tracking and communications

Inspired by fireflies, researchers from MIT have created insect-scale robots that can emit light while flying and enable motion tracking and communication.

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“This is a major step toward flying these robots in outdoor environments where we don’t have a well-tuned, state-of-the-art motion tracking system,” Kevin Chen, head of the Soft and Micro Robotics Laboratory in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE), MIT, said in a research report.

These robots weigh barely more than a paper clip, and they can be tracked using the light they emit and three smartphone cameras.

Fireflies use their luminescence for communication — to attract a mate, ward off predators, or lure prey. Researchers have used the same concept to build these robots which are said to communicate with each other through the light-emitting feature, the report noted.

For instance, if sent on a search-and-rescue mission in a collapsed building, a robot that finds survivors could use lights to signal others and call for help, according to the report.

The robots’ wings are controlled by tiny artificial muscles known as soft actuators that emit colored light during the flight.