MIT builds swarms of tiny robotic insect drones that can fly 100 times longer than previous designs
Published on February 17, 2025
MIT scientists are designing robotic insects that could one day swarm out of mechanical hives and perform pollination at a rapid pace — ensuring fruits and vegetables are grown at an unprecedented level. The new technology could increase crop yields dramatically without harming the environment.
Artificial pollination is a process through which humans manually move pollen from one flower to another, with advances such as mechanical pollination among the techniques being developed. The idea of using robot insects is not new — but a problem previous generations of bug-sized robots ran into was their lack of endurance, velocity and aerial versatility compared to bees and other real insects.