The current model of robo-fly is tethered to a small, off-board powersource but Dr Ma says the next step will be to miniaturise the other bits of technology that will be needed to create a "fully wireless flying robot".
Part of the rationale for big government-sponsored rebates on what is an otherwise uneconomic source of power is the strategic benefit of distributing small-scale power generation across the landscape rather than focusing it in a hulking coal or nuclear plant.
Resembling a small child wearing an astronaut outfit with a backpack (for the battery powersource), the ASIMO could walk on two feet at speeds at over three miles per hour.