Resilient bug-sized robots keep flying even after wing damage: New repair techniques enable microscale robots to recover flight performance after suffering severe damage to the artificial muscles that power their wings. -- ScienceDaily

Aerial robots, on the other hand, are not so resilient. Poke holes in the robot's wing motors or chop off part of its propellor, and odds are pretty good it will be grounded. Inspired by the hardiness of bumblebees, MIT researchers have developed repair techniques that enable a bug-sized aerial robot to sustain severe damage to the actuators, or artificial muscles, that power its wings -- but to still fly effectively. They optimized these artificial muscles so the robot can better isolate defects and overcome minor damage, like tiny holes in the actuator. In addition, they demonstrated a novel laser repair method that can help the robot recover from severe damage, such as a fire that scorches the device.