UC Berkeley Demos Radio-Controlled Rhinoceros Beetle
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 29 of January , 2009 at 12:36 am
Last April, we covered DARPA’s HI-MEMS hybrid/cyborg insect project, which uses electrical wires to control the nervous systems of insects and steer them around. Researchers at UC Berkeley have recently improved the system, and demonstrated a wireless insect control interface of a Rhinoceros beetle. They implanted a module with six neural electrodes into the beetles when they were still in the pupae stage, and so the beetles mature, they have the electronics already embedded into their bodies. At that point, a battery pack and receiver are added, and by sending radio signals, the beetle can be made to take off, land, fly forwards and backwards, and steer left and right.
The entire electronics package (including the battery) weighs only 1.3 grams. Since the Rhinoceros beetle can lift about 3 grams, that’s a substantial amount of leftover payload capacity, good for small sensors, a camera, a microphone, or how about a couple MAVs? Researchers have already successfully developed remote controllable sharks, rats, and pigeons, but insects are much more relevant for reconnaissance work due to their familiarity and small size. Well, maybe not the Rhinoceros beetle specifically, but you get the concept.
Ultimately, the goal of this research is to use the insect’s own sensors (eyes and such) to collect data, while extracting energy from the insect itself.
[ Maharbiz Research Group ] VIA [ Tech-On ]
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Category: Biorobotics, Cybernetics
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Comment by Charlene Boucher
Made Thursday, 19 of November , 2009 at 7:22 am
This stuff is facinating its like science fiction only its really possible. I wonder does it hurt the animals involved? It makes you also wonder just exactly if this technology is not only being researched but is also being used right now?