Though insect-sized flying robots have been around for a while, none had been able to take untethered fight until now. Engineers at the University of Washington have revealed the RoboFly had taken its first untethered flaps, earlier this year, marking the first time a wireless flying robotic insect has flown. Now the man behind the project has revealed he hopes to have fully autonomous swarms roaming the skies within five years. RoboFly is only slightly heavier than a toothpick and is powered by an onboard circuit that converts the laser energy into enough electricity to operate its wings. Previously, the electronics the insects carried to power and control their wings were too heavy for the robots to fly with, meaning they had to remain connected to a wire.