Recently, researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology's Institute have developped a robotic platform consisting of multiple single-propeller machines that autonomously dock with each other and take flight. Each vehicle is simply designed with wheels for ground motion, one propeller, a computer and infrared sensors that measure the flight angle. They join at random through magnetic links and drive around together.
瑞士理工大学的研究人员近日研制出一种不需要人类控制就能够彼此识别并自主合作飞行的机器蜜蜂。这些机器蜜蜂由车轮、发动机、微型电脑和测量飞行角度的红外感受器组成。
The independent unit can take off and land vertically and fly independently, but erratically. Small wheels let them crawl around on the ground to locate each other.
独立的机器蜜蜂个体无法有效控制自己的飞行装置进行飞行，它只能垂直起落和靠底部的车轮在地上“爬行”，寻找同伴。
Once they've hooked up, though, they become capable of more efficient flight, communicating information from their altitude sensors via infrared to make flight more even by controlling roll and pitch. If one fails, the others can compensate. And when they land, the robots can simply detach from each other and crawl away.
只要一群机器蜜蜂成功找到彼此，他们就能够成为一个复杂的小型飞行器。每只机器蜜蜂都能够根据体内的平衡器用红外线识别系统判断在飞行中所要提供的动力，确保整个飞行团队平稳前进。如果有一只机器蜜蜂不慎掉队，其他机器能够迅速调整以保证飞行平稳。飞行结束后，它们会自动断开彼此的磁力连接，落到地上漫无目的地“爬来爬去”。（