Robotic Bee Project to Receive NASA Funding
Marie Donlon | April 05, 2018Source: C.Kang via NASANASA will reportedly fund a project that would develop bee-like robots for the purpose of helping to explore Mars.
Covered in sharp rocks and uneven surfaces, the red planet makes it difficult for rovers to traverse, which means a better way to explore the planet might be from above, according to aerospace engineers. As such, engineers will embark on the Marsbees project.
Although bumble-bee sized, the robots are expected to be designed with cicada-sized wings and aerospace engineers will reportedly work in conjunction with Japanese robotics teams to develop the flying bots.
"Our preliminary numerical results suggest that a bumblebee with a cicada wing can generate sufficient lift to hover in the Martian atmosphere," said Chang-kwon Kang, an aerospace engineer at the University of Alabama, Huntsville.
The objective of the first phase of the Marsbees' project is to refine the concept and determine its feasibility.