…but non-lepidopterists will probably be hard-pressed to figure that out just by looking at it. The video rates high on the jaw-dropping scale. The ChouChou electric butterfly is, in fact, a lepidoteroid robot, of sorts, from Japanese firm Tenyo Magic. It perches, flexes and flaps its wings, and flutters around its jar when disturbed. Preorderable now from JapanTrends.com. [via NOTCOT]
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Looks like it’s using a transparent tube off the bottom of the butterfly that hits bottom and coils back up to the top. I think they’re using a wire-in-tube to power the wings from a motor mounted on the underside of the lid.
THAT’s really realistic… WANT (to try building) ONE.