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RoboBee Robot Robot
This is a robot. It was designed by Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Kevin Y. Ma and Robert J. Wood and team member: Pakpong Chirarattananon and Sawyer B. Fuller.
This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering as part of the Rebeca Méndez Selects and Tools: Extending Our Reach exhibitions.
The RoboBee is the world’s first insect-scale flying robot. Weighing 80 milligrams (approximately the weight of a honeybee) with a wingspan of little more than 1 inch (3 cm), the RoboBee was designed by researchers at Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The team wanted to create a robotic bee colony that replicated the unique interactions of thousands of bees, a response to the alarming collapse of bee colonies worldwide in recent years. Facing the challenge of producing minuscule mechanical devices, researchers looked to the process of manufacturing pop-up books. To build individual bees, sheets of laser-cut materials are sandwiched together into a thin, flat plate that folds up like a pop-up book into the complete electromechanical structure. Swarms of RoboBees could not only have the capacity to artificially pollinate crops, but also participate in search-and-rescue missions, act as environmental sensors, or conduct covert surveillance.
This object was
donated by
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
It is credited Gift of Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Our curators have highlighted 1 object that are related to this one.
Its dimensions are
H x W (flattened): 2 x 3 cm (13/16 x 1 3/16 in.)
Cite this object as
RoboBee Robot Robot; Designed by Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Kevin Y. Ma (American, b.1988), Robert J. Wood (American, b. 1977); Team Member: Pakpong Chirarattananon, Sawyer B. Fuller; USA; piezoelectric ceramic, carbon fiber, alumina ceramic; polyester film, carbon-fiber composite; polyimide-film, garolite glass-fiber composites; H x W (flattened): 2 x 3 cm (13/16 x 1 3/16 in.); Gift of Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; 2015-23-1
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibitions Rebeca Méndez Selects and Tools: Extending Our Reach.