Engineers at the New York University (NYU) have developed a flying robot inspired by jellyfish.

Leif Ristroph, assistant professor of mathematics at NYU, and his colleagues, have built a small aerial vehicle whose flying motion is similar to the movements of the bone less jellyfish that inhabits in the water.

Ristroph's work was demonstrated at the American Physical Society's Division of Fluid Dynamics meeting on November 24 in Pittsburgh. The flying robot, whose motions resemble that of a jellyfish, can be used to transport miniaturized future robots for surveillance, search-and-rescue as well as monitoring traffic and atmosphere.

The engineer explains that previous attempts to build a small aerial robot were by mimicking the flight pattern of insects such as fruit flies. However, such an approach had a problem that the flapping wing of a fly is usually unstable. To stay in flight and to control its flying movements, a fly has to monitor its environment to sense factors such as sudden wind, approaching of a predator, and more. It is difficult to reconstruct the complex control of a fly in a mechanical device.

Ristroph said that he has devised a new way of flapping-wing flight that does not need any sort of control or feedback system to be stable, and is similar to the swimming patterns of a jellyfish. The prototype device that was demonstrated weighed just 2 gms and had a wing span of 8 cms in width.

The flying robot has four wings that are arranged like petals on a flower. The overall device is compared to a jellyfish and its up and down motions of the wings resembles a jellyfish, but the flight motion is similar to that of a moth.

The flying vehicle can ascend, hover and fly in a particular direction. The engineers also claim that the flying robot is stable when in flight. The object is also said to be robust and can remain unharmed if it crashes on to an object.

The latest aerial device is currently attached to a power chord; however, future developments can enable the object to fly of its own.

Check the flying object in action in the below video.