Turning once again to its micro-mechatronics technology, Eps- on’s mFR-II Micro-Flying Robot also features Bluetooth wireless control and independent flight. The mFR-II was first displayed at the Emerging Technology Fair, held as part of the Emerging Technology Fair in Tokyo in late August.

The μFR-II is only the latest chapter in an Epson success story that began with Monsieur, a micro-robot that was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s smallest micro-robot and was put on sale in 1993.

Having made micro-mechatronics one of its core technologies, the company has since created and marketed several more microrobots in the EMRoS series.

April 2003 saw the introduction of the Monsieur II-P, a prototype micro-robot that operates on the world’s thinnest micro-actuator (an ultra-thin, ultrasonic motor) and is remote-controllable via a power-saving Bluetooth module.

The following November, Epson unveiled the prototype micro-flying robot μFR, which featured two ultra-thin, ultrasonic motors driving two contra-rotating propellers for levitation, plus the world’s first linear-actuator stabilizing mechanism for attitude control during flight.