Weighing just 34 grams and measuring 220 mm long, the Festo BionicBee is the smallest flying object created by the company yet. The flying robot is capable of flying in a swarm autonomously, thanks to the help of an indoor locating system with ultra-wideband (UWB) technology.
A total of eight UWB anchors are installed in the space across two levels to allow for an accurate time measurement and enable the bees to locate themselves in the space. The UWB anchors then send transmit to the individual bees, which can independently measure the distances to the respective transmitting elements and calculate their own position in the space using the time stamps.
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To fly in a swarm, the bees follow the paths specified by a central computer. To ensure safe and collision-free flight in close formation, a high degree of spatial and temporal accuracy is required. When planning the path, the possible mutual interaction through air turbulence ‘downwash’ must also be taken into account,” said Festo.
