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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
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Insect-machine Hybrid System: Remote Radio Control of a Freely Flying Beetle (Mercynorrhina torquata)
Published on: September 2, 2016
Electrical endogenous heating of insect muscles for flight control
Alper Bozkurt1, Amit Lal, Robert Gilmour
1School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.
Summary
Researchers used heat to control insect flight initiation, significantly reducing takeoff time. This advancement in hybrid electronic insect micro-air-vehicles enables more reliable and frequent flight control.
Area of Science:
- Biomimetic engineering
- Insect flight control
- Micro-air-vehicle technology
Background:
- Previous work established reliable surgical methods for implanting neuromuscular prosthetic devices in insect flight muscles.
- Controlling insect flight with implanted electronics is an ongoing research effort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate the use of heat for controlling insect flight initiation and takeoff.
- To present a novel tissue-embedded microheater for reducing preflight warm-up duration in hybrid electronic insect micro-air-vehicles.
Main Methods:
- Development and implantation of a tissue-embedded microheater into the insect's thorax.
- Measurement of biological takeoff-time at room temperature and with targeted heating.
Main Results:
- Heating the insect thorax reduced the biological takeoff-time from 5-10 minutes to 58 seconds.
- This demonstrates effective control over insect flight initiation using thermal stimulation.
Conclusions:
- Thorax heating significantly minimizes insect flight takeoff-time.
- Reduced takeoff-time is crucial for enabling higher bandwidth and reliable control in repeated takeoff and landing applications for insect micro-air-vehicles.
