Micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs) are not new, but you don’t see many bats. The Robo-Bat was made by a team from NC State University and is a remote controlled creature with super elastic shape-memory metal alloy for the joints, which provides a full range of motion while allowing it to “always return to its original position — a function performed by many tiny bones, cartilage and tendons in real bats.”

The crew is also using other “smart materials” for the muscular system, which gives it the ability to react in real time to environmental changes like sudden wind gusts.

[Engadget]