01/26/2004: 
Technologica
UD engineers building flying robot
All Your Bird Are Belong To Us
By Cris Barrish, Delaware News Journal
Imagine an ultralight, sparrow-sized robot that can fly undetected into a building, hover like a hummingbird, and locate a hostage or military enemy while sending video images and data to a distant computer.
Such a robot could help SWAT teams gather information for a raid, assist rescue teams by mapping the inside of a collapsed building, or study activity on large factory floors.
A project to create such a robot has been in the works for more than a year at the University of Delaware under the direction of mechanical engineering professor Sunil K. Agrawal, an internationally recognized robotics expert.
Other Micro Air Vehicles that have been developed either have fixed wings like an airplane, which cannot hover, or rotor wings like a helicopter, which have limited maneuverability, Agrawal said.
He believes a flapping-wing robot that mimics a hummingbird's relatively silent and agile flight could be the most effective Micro Air Vehicle. His ultimate goal is to develop robots that can fly in groups as they conduct surveillance.
Dubbed "Sparrow,'' the robot has a carbon fiber composite frame, wings made of the polyester film Mylar and a tiny motor. It is 15 centimeters long and weighs 18 grams, less than two-thirds of an ounce. In the coming months, the prototype will be equipped with a fingertip-sized camera and operated by remote control.
