You've heard of robotic bees, but have you heard of robotic butterflies? Chinese researchers have published a study that focuses on their efforts to develop solar-powered wings that imitate the flapping motion of a butterfly. They were able to develop wings that can do this at a rapid rate using light-driven actuators, and a new video shows all of the different ways they can utilize what they've created. The study was published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces on January 16th, and a video put out on Wednesday explains how the project came together. When the wing was exposed to the heat of a strong light source, much like the Sun, the polymer layer on the bottom expanded significantly more than the metallic layer on the top, which caused the wing curl.

Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, or KAIST, have developed an ultra-thin actuator for soft robotics. The artificial muscles, recently reported in the journal Science Robotics, were demonstrated with a robotic blooming flower brooch, dancing robotic butterflies, and fluttering tree leaves on a kinetic art piece. Actuators are the robotic equivalents of muscles, expanding, contracting, or rotating like muscle fibers in response to a stimulus such as electricity. Engineers around the world are striving to develop more dynamic actuators that respond quickly, can bend without breaking, and are very durable. Soft robotic muscles could have a wide variety of applications, from wearable electronics to advanced prosthetics.