Technology is often an imitation of life and it seems that Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has turned its attention from flying snakes to hummingbirds.
In their most recent foray into ‘spy bots’ DARPA has funded a tiny hovering robot capable of manoeuvring in tight spaces and taking pictures. The drone, built by AeroVironment closely resembles a hummingbird with a 6.5-inch wingspan and a weight of 19 grams. The drone can fly for about eight minutes, a far cry from its developmental record of only 20 seconds a short two years ago.
The device is the first-ever "controlled hovering flight of an air vehicle system with two flapping wings that carries its own energy source and uses only the flapping wings for propulsion and control," said AeroVironment in a recent Pop Science Article.
DARPA has a history with seemingly crazy developmental ideas like this, with possible applications in the defense industry that sometimes turn out just to be kind of interesting. For example earlier this year they focused on research with flying snakes for possible application in aeronautics, they have also reportedly invested in brain/machine interfaces and funded Boston Dynamic’s BigDog project.
The US military's latest graceful spy flyer is aptly dubbed the ‘Nano Hummingbird’, is the talk of the town as of now.
With all kinds of battlefield applications imaginable, including the potential to move into dangerous spaces and busy urban areas unannounced, the video capture provided by the bird’s camera system is remarkable though there is scope to improve upon. However, given the large amount of funding provided by the US government into wartime robotics, it’s only a matter of time before the optics significantly improve with the future potential for an on-board weapons system.