Begin forwarded message:
From: "Mario Profaca" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: November 22, 2008 4:22:53 AM PST
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [SPY NEWS] Bug-Sized Spies: U.S. Develops Tiny Flying Robots
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,456384,00.html
Bug-Sized Spies: U.S. Develops Tiny Flying Robots
Friday, November 21, 2008
AP
Nov. 21: This photo taken from computer animation video shows the next
generation of drones, called Micro Aerial Vehicles.
DAYTON, Ohio — If only we could be a fly on the wall when our enemies
are plotting to attack us. Better yet, what if that fly could record
voices, transmit video and even fire tiny weapons?
That kind of James Bond-style fantasy is actually on the drawing
board. U.S. military engineers are trying to design flying robots
disguised as insects that could one day spy on enemies and conduct
dangerous missions without risking lives.
"The way we envision it is, there would be a bunch of these sent out
in a swarm," said Greg Parker, who helps lead the research project at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. "If we know there's a
possibility of bad guys in a certain building, how do we find out? We
think this would fill that void."
In essence, the research seeks to miniaturize the Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle drones used in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance and
reconnaissance.
The next generation of drones, called Micro Aerial Vehicles, or MAVs,
could be as tiny as bumblebees and capable of flying undetected into
buildings, where they could photograph, record, and even attack
insurgents and terrorists.
By identifying and assaulting adversaries more precisely, the robots
would also help reduce or avoid civilian casualties, the military says.
Parker and his colleagues plan to start by developing a bird-sized
robot as soon as 2015, followed by the insect-sized models by 2030.
The vehicles could be useful on battlefields where the biggest
challenge is collecting reliable intelligence about enemies.
"If we could get inside the buildings and inside the rooms where their
activities are unfolding, we would be able to get the kind of
intelligence we need to shut them down," said Loren Thompson, a
defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va.
Philip Coyle, senior adviser with the Center for Defense Information
in Washington D.C., said a major hurdle would be enabling the vehicles
to carry the weight of cameras and microphones.
"If you make the robot so small that it's like a bumblebee and then
you ask the bumblebee to carry a video camera and everything else, it
may not be able to get off the ground," Coyle said.
Parker envisions the bird-sized vehicles as being able to spy on
adversaries by flying into cities and perching on building ledges or
power lines. The vehicles would have flappable wings as a disguise but
use a separate propulsion system to fly.
"We think the flapping is more so people don't notice it," he said.
"They think it's a bird."
Unlike the bird-sized vehicles, the insect-sized ones would actually
use flappable wings to fly, Parker said.
He said engineers want to build a vehicle with a 1-inch wingspan,
possibly made of an elastic material. The vehicle would have sensors
to help avoid slamming into buildings or other objects.
Existing airborne robots are flown by a ground-based pilot, but the
smaller versions would fly independently, relying on preprogrammed
instructions.
Parker said the tiny vehicles should also be able to withstand bumps.
"If you look at insects, they can bounce off of walls and keep
flying," he said. "You can't do that with a big airplane, but I don't
see any reason we can't do that with a small one."
An Air Force video describing the vehicles said they could possibly
carry chemicals or explosives for use in attacks.
Once prototypes are developed, they will be flight-tested in a new
building at Wright-Patterson dubbed the "micro aviary" forMicro Air
Vehicle Integration Application Research Institute.
"This type of technology is really the wave of the future," Thompson
said. "More and more military research is going into things that are
small, that are precise and that are extremely focused on particular
types of missions or activities."