On the wings of technology: drones of Hummingbird

SAN DIEGO — the Pentagon is pouring millions of dollars in the development of tiny drones inspired by biology — such as hummingbirds — each equipped with audio and video equipment that can record sounds and.

Could be used for spying, but also to locate people inside buildings earthquake-crumpled and detect leaks of hazardous chemicals.

The smaller the better.

In addition the hummingbirds, engineers in the field of pilotless drones are working on increasing that resemble insects and seed helicopter-like maple leaf.

Researchers are also exploring ways to plant surveillance and other equipment in an insect as it undergoes metamorphosis. Want to be able to control the creature.

The devices could end up being used by police officers and firefighters.

Their potential use outside of battle, however, is raising questions about privacy and the dangers of winged creatures buzzing around in the sky as the plane themselves.

For now, most of these devices are just awe inspiring.

With a 6.5-inch wing span, the controlled bird weighs less than a AA battery and can fly at speeds up to 11 km/h, driven solely by flapping its wings. A small camera sits in her belly.

The bird can climb and descend vertically, fly sideways, back and forth. It can rotate clockwise and counterclockwise.

More than anything can hover or perch on a window ledge while it collects intelligence, unbeknownst to the enemy.

"We were laughing almost to be afraid because we signed up to do this," said Matt Keennon, senior project engineer at AeroVironment in California, who built the hummingbirds.

The Pentagon has asked them to develop an air pocket for surveillance and reconnaissance that mimicked biology. Could be anything, they said, from a Dragonfly for a hummingbird.

Five years and $ 4 million later, the company has developed what it calls the first spy plane Hummingbird world.

"It was very daunting in front and remained that way for quite some time in the project," he said, after the drone blew with his head and landed on his hand during a demonstration of media.

The most difficult challenges were building a small vehicle which can fly for a prolonged period and be controlled or controls itself.

AeroVironment has a history of developing such aircraft.

Over the decades, has developed the company headquartered in Monrovia, California from a mechanical flying reptile with a hydrogen plane capable of flying in the stratosphere and measurement of an area larger than Afghanistan at a glance.

It has become a leader in drone launched by hand.

Troops hurl a plane four pounds, the Raven, in the air. Have come to rely on real-time video that defers to locate using roadside bombs or get a glimpse of what is happening over the next Hill or behind a corner.

The success of hummingbirds drone, however, "paves the way for a new generation of aircraft with the agility and the appearance of small birds," said Todd Hylton research arm of the Pentagon, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

These drones are not just birds.

Lockheed Martin has developed a suit of fake maple leaf, or so-called in whirly bird, loaded with sensors and imaging equipment. The spy plane weighs 0.07 ounces.

Research on the ends of the spectrum, DARPA also is studying the possibility of implanting live insects during metamorphosis with cameras or sensors, and control by applying electrical stimulation to their wings.

The idea is for the military to be able to send a swarm of bug glassfibre spy gear.

The military is looking at other uses.

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The drones could be sent in to search for buildings in areas of urban combat. Police are interested in using them, among other things, to detect a loss of dangerous chemical. Firefighters could hurl them above a disaster to get better data, quickly.

It is difficult to say what, if anything, will make it out of the lab, but their birth presents challenges not only with physics.

What are the legal implications, especially with interest among police using lowercase for surveillance drones and their potential to invade the privacy of people, she asks Peter w. Singer, author of the book "Wired for war," war robotics.

Singer said that these questions will be increasingly discussed as Robotics become more a part of everyday life.

"It is the equivalent to the advent of the printing press, computers, gunpowder," he said. "Is that the scale of change".

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