DelFly Micro is World's Smallest Ornithopter – Weights Only 3g with Camera
Posted on August 11th, 2008 in Science
The DelFly Micro, built by Delft University of Technology, is the world’s smallest ornithopther. The flapping robot has a 10 cm wingspan and even includes a video camera. In a mere year-and-a-half, the team decreased the weight from the 16 grams of the DelFly II, to the amazing 3 grams of the DelFly Micro.
The group hopes to use the ornithopther to study the aerodynamics of small flapping vehicles, as computer simulations prove very difficult. They also hope to use the onboard camera to achieve autonomous flight using machine vision. The current vehicle has a 30mAh lithium polymer battery that allows for 3 minutes of flight-time (the battery is 1/3 of the DelFly’s weight). The wings are made of mylar and flap at 30 Hz.
You can see some video of the ornithopther flying after the jump.
Update: The August 15th edition (MP3) of the Robots Podcast features an interview with the creators of the DelFly Micro.
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August 17th, 2008 at 01:18
i have keen interest on urs project.would u plz mail me further more about this?
August 17th, 2008 at 16:47
Rajiv,
You’ll have to contact Delft University for more information.
March 3rd, 2009 at 20:56
holy..!!! insane! has anyone thought up a pearching mechanism yet?
September 27th, 2009 at 23:47
The flying object this small can be used only indoors. The camera on board is not high quality. Image stabilization may be an issue for dragonfly cams. I will love to see a broadcast quality stabilized cam onboard with larger range and usable out doors.
November 9th, 2011 at 20:09
can i buy the del fly
November 10th, 2011 at 17:45
the DelFly is a one off and is not available commercially.
January 24th, 2012 at 00:44
Hi real good stuff.
How can we learn the mechanism and engineering involved in it.
From where the parts can be bought?
How much will it cost to build one in terms of cash and in terms of time?
February 29th, 2012 at 09:13
RobotShop.com has everything you need to get started. You can use almost any building materials and the cost is really up to you. If you’re new, we suggest starting with some “easy to use” circuits instead of starting at the component-level.