Looks like less is more when trying to master flight. This small helicopter is using a brain that is based on the brain of an insect!

“As tiny as insect brains are, they can still perform extraordinary acrobatics in the air that human flying machines have yet to match. Now scientists reveal a miniature helicopter, with an electronic brain inspired by insects, that could help lead to better takeoffs, flights and landings for robotic aircraft.

Insects and other animals capable of powered, flapping flight are somehow able to execute controlled takeoffs and landings and keep flying at proper altitudes despite their lack of the sophisticated instruments available to human aviators.

“It’s extraordinary to see flies navigate with just their small 10-milligram brains,” said researcher Nicolas Franceschini, a neurophysiologist and engineer at France’s National Center for Scientific Research and at the University of the Mediterranean in France. ”

Via: The Raw Feed and Gear Live