Electrical Endogenous Heating of Insect Muscles for Flight Control

In our ongoing effort to reliably control insect flight with pupae-inserted electronics, we demonstrate using heat to control insect flight initiation or take-off from standing position. We have previously developed reliable surgical methods to implant neuromuscular prosthetic devices in insect flight muscle for directing flight electrically. Here, we present, for the first time, a tissue embedded micro heater to decrease the preflight warm-up duration of hybrid electronic insect micro-air-vehicles. The biological takeoff-time at room temperature of 5-10 minutes was reduced to 58-seconds by thorax heating. Minimization of takeoff-time will enable higher bandwidth and reliable control for repeated takeoff and landing applications.