What is a Robofly?
“Robofly” is a generic name for any attempt at artificial flying machines on the size scale of houseflies, with wingspans about 3 cm (around an inch) and weights of about 100 milligrams. Several research efforts have focused on this challenge, often drawing inspiration from the biomechanics of real flies. One of the earliest serious efforts to build a robofly was by the Biomimetic Millisystems Lab at the University of California at Berkeley. Started in 1998 and still ongoing, the project has not yet successfully built a real robofly, though some researchers did collaborate on what eventually became the first successful robofly. The team also made numerous important observations and discoveries about the mechanics of insect-scale flight. Finding that stainless steel lacked the necessary strength-to-weight ratio, the team began building prototypes out of carbon fiber in 2002. The first successful robofly was built by Harvard engineer David Wood in 2007. It had a wingspan of 3 cm and a we
