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AI Robotics Coding UCLA Scientists Build Light-Powered Robot That Flaps Like a Bee1984CMU Trains Navy Robotics Specialists for the Age of AIHarvard Researchers Advanced Quantum InternetMIT’s New Bionic Knee Feels Like Part of the Body, Not Just a ToolCaltech Researchers Create a New, Noninvasive Way to Measure Blood PressureAI Takes Flight: Boston University’s AIR Initiative Leads Cross-Disciplinary InnovationResearchers at Carnegie Mellon University are Developing a New Cancer Implant TechAutonomous Insect Robotics LaboratoryNortheastern University Research Could Bring Virtual Reality Closer to RealityCaltech Creating AI Program to Solve Decades Old Math ProblemsAI/Biomedicine lab at the University of WashingtonFuture of Data Science EducationCMU – AI Driven RobotsFahrenheit 451The Assistive Robotics and ManipulationAI Predicting Health OutcomesHow Robots Are Helping PeopleGTGraffiti A Robot That Paints Like A HumanThe MartianFour-Legged Robotic System From MITAI Making Streets SaferHUBO RobotsAI Simulation To See Your Future SelfRobot Muscles At MIT

UCLA Scientists Build Light-Powered Robot That Flaps Like a Bee

August 27, 2025

UCLA researchers have unveiled a soft robot that mimics insect flight—powered entirely by light. The tiny flapping actuator, called FLaPTOR (Flapping Trilayer Oscillatory Robot), uses a clever three-layer design to bend and flap like real wings, hitting speeds of nearly 780 beats per minute.

Unlike previous designs that needed wires or batteries, FLaPTOR is fully autonomous. Its two light-sensitive layers flex in opposite directions around a silicone middle layer, producing strong, insect-like lift. In tests, it could propel a tiny boat, move a small robot along guidewires, and respond to sunlight or colored light from across the spectrum.

The power output is comparable to some flying insects—275 times stronger than previous flapping robots of its kind. Researchers say this opens the door to bee-sized flying robots, walking or water-based robots, and even light-powered sensors or energy converters.

“This is a big step toward untethered, autonomous flight in soft robotics,” said lead researcher Ximin He.

By:
Vraj Parikh