Until now, flying drones or robots have been inspired by fixed wing aircraft or helicopters rather than flying insects. But that could be about to change for smaller sizes at least, thanks to research taking advantage of AI-based technologies. While being inspired by insect counterparts, emerging drones with flapping wings also promise to help clear up remaining puzzles over the aerodynamics of insect flight, as well as opening new IoT applications in remote monitoring and surveillance. Their main advantage lies in smaller size since making working propeller-based drones on that scale would be prohibitively expensive per unit. The new designs also score on agility, through making use of insect-like aerodynamic capabilities. At least two significant steps have been taken in…