British automotive manufacturer Rolls-Royce, in collaboration with Harvard University, has create a robot which it hopes will one day be able to work as a team to carry out jet engine inspections.
The team behind the project have already create a prototype, called SWAM, which weights 1.5 grams.
The hope is that the robots will eventually be small enough to work their way through jet engines and perform maintenance checks without the need to dismantle the engine.
The robots will eventually carry small cameras that provide a live video feed back to the operator allowing them to complete a rapid visual inspection of the engine without having to remove it from the aircraft.
The company hopes that the SWARM robots will reduce the cost of engine maintenance, increase the availability of an engine and ensure any maintenance required is completed as quickly as possible.
A new collaboration between @RollsRoyce and @Harvard is hoping to creating a swarm of tiny robots for jet engine maintenance pic.twitter.com/xiRZDl92vw
— BusinessCloud.co.uk (@BCloudUK) July 24, 2018
The robots will eventually carry small cameras that provide a live video feed back to the operator allowing them to complete a rapid visual inspection of the engine without having to remove it from the aircraft.
The company hopes that the SWARM robots will reduce the cost of engine maintenance, increase the availability of an engine and ensure any maintenance required is completed as quickly as possible.