{
  "id": 4631531,
  "title": "Scientists build tiny robots without motors that can fly using sound waves alone",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/31/scientists-build-tiny-robots-without-motors-that-can-fly-using-sound",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-08-31T11:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Live Science",
    "slug": "live-science",
    "url": "https://www.livescience.com/technology/robotics/scientists-build-tiny-robots-without-motors-that-can-fly-using-sound-waves-alone"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Scientists have developed miniature robots that can fly using sound waves, eliminating the need for conventional motors. These innovative devices utilize a concept known as Helmholtz resonance, originally studied by 19th-century physicist Hermann von Helmholtz. The researchers at the Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne (EPFL) applied this principle to create tiny, hollow chambers in their microstructures, which resonate when exposed to specific sound frequencies. This resonance generates a jet of air that propels the devices forward, allowing them to maneuver boats or even lift themselves off the ground. The team built boats with multiple resonators, each tuned to different frequencies, enabling precise steering of the vessels. At a smaller scale, some of the microfliers generated lift by pushing air downward, while others used sound waves to spin tiny blades, enabling helicopter-like flight. This groundbreaking technology could potentially revolutionize the field of micromachinery, offering the ability to manipulate small objects in mid-air without physical contact or create flexible surfaces that can change shape upon hearing specific frequencies. The researchers believe this concept holds immense potential for biomedical applications, such as constructing heart stents, and are eager to explore further applications and designs based on their foundational principles.",
  "summary": "A century-old trick for tuning musical instruments has been repurposed to power robots that fly, float and steer themselves using nothing but sound waves.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}