DARPA starts cyborg insect creation program
Agency DARPA, a research institution of the US Department of Defense, is launching a large-scale cyborg insect creation program with embedded microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The goal of the program, called HI-MEMS (Hybrid-Insect MEMS), is to develop (or rather, create) operator-controlled bugs and flies that will be able to carry out reconnaissance missions that are dangerous or impossible for humans for one reason or another.
Grants and funding from DARPA are currently received by three research groups working in leading US universities. According to the task, scientists will have to carry out three phases of research and practical work, the result of which should be “the 21st century cavalry” - cyborg insects will be placed under the gun in the US Army.
The task of the first, the most important stage of work is to create a system of controlled flight of insects, which should be carried out using implanted electrodes. Here it becomes clear why it was insects that were chosen as potential high-tech scouts: implantation of electrodes into a fly is possible without surgery, at the stage of transforming the larva into an adult. The second and third stages are the training of operators who will control cyborg scouts and the development of the on-board electronics power system, which, according to specialists' plans, should convert part of the energy of the muscles that drive the wings into electrical energy.
Ultimately, if the whole process of research and development proves to be justified, research groups should present a kind of winged cyborg, which should be controlled either by the help of a remote control or a GPS system. If an insect created by scientists is able to reach a target at a distance of about one hundred meters with an accuracy of up to five meters, then the research can be considered successful.
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Well, mechanical flies are already a reality. It remains to wait for cyborgs. One thing pleases, swatting an insect with technological filling will be as easy as usual.
via Gizmowatch
Grants and funding from DARPA are currently received by three research groups working in leading US universities. According to the task, scientists will have to carry out three phases of research and practical work, the result of which should be “the 21st century cavalry” - cyborg insects will be placed under the gun in the US Army.
The task of the first, the most important stage of work is to create a system of controlled flight of insects, which should be carried out using implanted electrodes. Here it becomes clear why it was insects that were chosen as potential high-tech scouts: implantation of electrodes into a fly is possible without surgery, at the stage of transforming the larva into an adult. The second and third stages are the training of operators who will control cyborg scouts and the development of the on-board electronics power system, which, according to specialists' plans, should convert part of the energy of the muscles that drive the wings into electrical energy.
Ultimately, if the whole process of research and development proves to be justified, research groups should present a kind of winged cyborg, which should be controlled either by the help of a remote control or a GPS system. If an insect created by scientists is able to reach a target at a distance of about one hundred meters with an accuracy of up to five meters, then the research can be considered successful.
')
Well, mechanical flies are already a reality. It remains to wait for cyborgs. One thing pleases, swatting an insect with technological filling will be as easy as usual.
via Gizmowatch
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/14821/
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