A research project from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands created the latest iteration of the DelFly robot called the Nimble. It’s a super agile robot with a quad-wing flapping system, and it’s capable of flying just as nimbly as a real winged insect.
Using its four wings, the DelFly can control three axes of flight, and it goes left or right by changing the way each one of its wings flap. It’s eerily similar to a real insect. Currently, the DelFly can fly around for more than five minutes on a full battery with a range of more than 1 kilometer (0.62 miles).
The DelFly can handle flying on the three axes of flight
You might be asking yourself, “What can a flying robot be used for?” The DelFly’s project page states that it is “ready for many real-world tasks,” whatever that means.
There is a purely scientific application for the DelFly that includes studying and replicating insect flight dynamics and high-agility maneuvers, like the ones that fruit flies use to evade predators or humans.