Teaching Robots to Fly Like Birds

Rutgers researchers replace motors with smart materials in an innovative approach to flight.

Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

A bird banking in a crosswind doesn't rely on spinning blades. Its wings flex, twist and respond instantly to its environment.

Engineers at Rutgers University have taken a major step toward building birdlike drones that move the same way, flapping their wings like real birds, using electricity-driven materials instead of conventional electromagnetic motors to power them.