The United States Air Force has been working on miniature remote controlled drones that resemble a flying insect.
Military and civilian scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory came up with the concept while researching how to create unique winged drones that resemble nature’s creations. The goal was to create a bird-like drone that would flap its wings realistically to avoid detection by enemy forces during surveillance operations. With miniaturization technology constantly getting more advanced, the lab was able to create a drone that fits on the pad of a finger as pictured above. The “Fly-Bot” is controlled by a trained pilot from a remote terminal. The aviator has full command of the drone, and can manoeuvre it into groups of real insects to hide, while a live feed is piped into the command centre.
The Air Force used a room with cameras that can track the movements of small airborne objects to within a tenth of an inch, allowing them to make the adjustments necessary to make the drone possible.
This video from the Research Lab is below that outlines the work going on there:
The potential for this technology to be weaponised is limitless. Give the drone the ability to release a small amount of gas, or pack a high-powered mini-explosive inside its body and you have something to be feared above just surveillance. A swarm of these invading a building then detonating would bring new meaning to the phrase “smart-weapon.”
Source: Geek.com