TechJect’s Dragonfly micro UAV flies like a bird and hovers like an insect

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The Dragonfly was inspired by its biological namesake

Prototype Dragonflies

The Dragonfly features a four-wing design

Only the Alpha model misses out on CVT

The Dragonfly specs

The Alpha model Dragonfly

The Delta model Dragonfly

The Gamma model Dragonfly

The Omega model Dragonfly

The Dragonfly will measure 15 cm (6 in) long

A Dragonfly prototype in the wild

The Dragonfly can fly and hover

The MARC-Basic flight computer used in the Alpha and Delta models

The MARC-2 flight computer used in the Gamma model adds a camera and Wi-Fi

The MARC-3 computer used in the top on the line Omega model boasts 20 onboard sensors

The TechJect Dragonfly

The TechJect Dragonfly fits in the palm of a hand

Computer image of the Dragonfly micro UAV

Article Summary

Given their impressive flight capabilities, it’s not surprising to see researchers turning to the world of flying insects for inspiration when developing new kinds of micro UAVs. With their ability to both fly at high speeds and hover, the dragonfly would seem an obvious candidate for biomimicry. But with the exception of the DelFly, we hadn’t seen many attempts to model a micro UAV on the dragonfly’s four wing design. That could be changing with a multi-disciplinary team from Georgia Tech having developed a robotic four-winged ornithopter called the TechJect Dragonfly that fits in the palm of a hand and combines the flight capabilities of a quadricopter, helicopter and fixed wing aircraft in one.

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