One small step for man, one giant flight for dragonflies

10th July 2017

Draper

Alice Matthews

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A team of researchers at Draper first announced the DragonflEye programme in January, and it now has lift-off. DragonflEye is a drone that uses live dragonflies to fly. The DragonflEye is a real dragonfly that has been turned into a living drone, it was created by researchers at Draper and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Janelia Research Campus. The dragonfly wears a tiny backpack fitted with electronics, sensors and a solar cell. A light source charges the solar cell, which powers the backpack.

In a video published by the BBC, Jesse J. Wheeler, Principal Investigator, Draper, explained the programme: “The DragonflEye system is a cybernetic flight system used to guide the flight of actual, living dragonflies.

“Dragonflies are amazing fliers, they can reach speeds of up to 30mph, acceleration up to 9Gs

“They are found all over the world and some are even known to cross continents.

“So the dragonfly has special neurons called steering neurons, and these are the neurons that we actually want to communicate with in order to guide its flight. Left, right, up or down.”

The dragonfly’s steering neurons are genetically modified so they become responsive to light. They are then fitted with a tiny solar powered backpack that contains LED lights.

Pulses of light can then activate the steering neurons and guide the flight, and then the DragonflEye can take off.

The Dragonfl-eye system has now taken its first flight, albeit in a straight line, and the team has high hopes fgor the future.

Wheeler continued: “Some of the more immediate applications that we could explore include remote environmental sensing, search and rescue in cluttered and dangerous environments, and possibly aiding in large scale pollination.”

Will joining nature with technology help us to solve more problems in the future?