In 2021, a group of scientists from China engineered the RoboFalcon—a bird-inspired flapping-wing robot with a newly engineered mechanism made to drive bat-style morphing wings capable of flight. While this bio-inspired robot performed well at a cruising speed, it was not capable of flying at lower speeds or achieving takeoff without assistance.

Now, the same group of researchers has upgraded their design. Their work, published in Science Advances, describes the RoboFalcon 2.0, which incorporates an 800 g body and reconfigurable mechanisms in the wings to couple flapping, sweeping, and folding in one wingbeat. This more sophisticated wing system allows the RoboFalcon 2.0 to achieve takeoff without assistance and to stay in flight at lower speeds.

…They say a tail elevator is needed for stability during higher speeds and that energy efficiency during takeoff is lower than in insect-scale robots or real birds. They also found that RoboFalcon 2.0’s real-world hovering ability is limited by a lack of yaw control…