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In an effort to create a hard-to-detect surveillance drone that will operate with little or no direct human supervision in out of the way and adverse environments, researchers are mimicking nature.
The University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab recently unveiled their insect-like drones, which function with “little or no direct human supervision” in “dynamic, resource-constrained, adversial environments.” Their drones, though, operate in groups called SWARMS and include 20 nano quadrotors flying simultaneously.
The U.S. is far from the only country interested in technology that mimics nature in order to remain undetected. As early as in 2007 the US government was accused of secretly developing robotic insect spies when anti-war protesters in the US saw some flying objects similar to dragonflies or little helicopters hovering above them.The Netherlands has a project called BioMAV- Biologically Inspired A.I. for Micro Aerial Vehicles.
In 2008, the US Air Force showed off bug-sized spies as “tiny as bumblebees” that would not be detected when flying into buildings to “photograph, record, and even attack insurgents and terrorists.” Developers at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio have produced dozens of prototypes that would not look out of place in a James Bond movie, based on the flight mechanics of birds, moths and dragonflies.
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Posted by Cher MyOpinion at 8:07 AM