Johns Hopkins University, February 6, 2012: To improve the next generation of bug-size flying machines, a Johns Hopkins engineering team has been aiming high-speed video cameras at some of the prettiest insects on the planet. By figuring out how butterflies flutter among flowers with amazing grace and agility, the researchers hope to help small airborne robots mimic these maneuvers. U.S. defense agencies, which have funded this research, are supporting the development of bug-size flyers to carry out reconnaissance, search-and-rescue and environmental-monitoring missions without risking human lives. These devices are commonly called micro-aerial vehicles or MAVs - Flight Plan: Butterfly’s aerial antics could help builders of bug-size flying robots