Understanding the mechanisms allowing brains to collect sensory input and control adaptive behaviour represents one of the most challenging endeavours in science. The goal of this symposium is to review progress towards an integrated understanding of the genetic, molecular, and neuronal basis of behaviour in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. We will examine how our knowledge about biological neural processes can influence (and be influenced by) the design of robotic neural systems. Our aim is to bring together researchers from the Drosophila and insect community with experts in computational neurobiology and robotics. We will promote discussion on how to quantitatively describe working hypotheses about brain functions and behavioural control, and how bio-inspired robots may be used to test the validity and limits of our current models.