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HeadlineROBOTICS

[Robotics]+[Progress]: BugBot Biomimetic Insect Swarm Completes First Large-Scale Agricultural Pollination Trial in California

BugBot biomimetic insect robot swarms, jointly developed by Harvard's Wyss Institute and Bayer Crop Science, completed a 1,000-unit pollination trial in California strawberry fields, achieving 80% of bee pollination efficiency.

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Global bee populations have declined by approximately 40% over the past two decades, posing a serious threat to agricultural production. In May 2030, Harvard's Wyss Institute and Bayer Crop Science completed a large-scale pollination trial of 1,000 BugBot biomimetic insect robots in strawberry fields in Monterey County, California—the largest robotic pollination experiment to date.

BugBot has a wingspan of just 3 centimeters and weighs 0.7 grams, making it the world's smallest flying robot. It uses soft piezoelectric actuators for dual-wing vibratory flight, achieving speeds of up to 1.2 meters per second with 12-minute flight endurance. Its abdomen carries a micro electrostatic adhesion device for transferring pollen between flowers.

Don Ingber, director of Harvard's Wyss Institute, said: "Nature spent hundreds of millions of years evolving bees' pollination capability. BugBot's goal isn't to replace bees but to supplement them when bee populations are insufficient."

During the two-week trial, 1,000 BugBots were deployed across 5 acres of strawberry fields. Results showed that BugBot's pollination efficiency reached 80% of natural bees, with superior pollination uniformity—BugBots don't exhibit the "phototaxis" tendency where bees prefer certain flowers.

Bayer Crop Science's digital agriculture lead said: "Strawberries are among the crops with the highest demand for manual pollination. If BugBot's pollination results remain stable at scale, we'll expand it to blueberries, tomatoes, apples, and other pollination-dependent crops."

However, BugBot's core challenges are cost and scalability. A single BugBot costs approximately $50 to manufacture, with deployment of 1,000 units costing $50,000—far more expensive than renting beehives. Additionally, BugBots currently require manual charging and maintenance, with insufficient autonomous management capabilities.

The Wyss Institute plans to reduce BugBot's manufacturing cost below $10 by 2031 and develop autonomous charging stations to enable fully autonomous swarm operation.