Looks like Harvard has been awarded $10 million from the National Science Foundation to create a new monstrosity. Robotic bees. They will be building these from a robotic fly they created in 2007.

The most difficult challenge will be to create smart sensors that mimic a bees eyes and antennae. They will make the bees fly of course, but they also plan to study and re-create some of the colony or community aspects and behaviors of the bees.

[Switched]

Yeah, cyborg beetles. RC cyborg beetles. It’s the work of a team at UC Berkley, who have successfully wired beetles up with electrodes, allowing them to be enslaved remotely.

“We demonstrated the remote control of insects in free flight via an implantable radioequipped miniature neural stimulating system,” the team reported in a paper titled Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience. “The pronotum mounted system consisted of neural stimulators, muscular stimulators, a radio transceiver-equipped microcontroller and a microbattery.”

Guess who is sponsoring their work. DARPA of course. Soon wars may be fought with wave upon wave of cyborg beetles, with the enemy crying, “Get it off me! Dear god, get it off me!”

[Dvice]

DARPA is like that weird kid all alone on the playground, torturing insects. All we can really do is steer clear of him and stay the hell away. The kid is always creepy and always busy. Check this out. Cornell researchers have implanted electronic probes into tobacco hornworms. This way when the worms go through the pupae and chrysalis stages, the moths can be controlled.

This scenario is part of DARPA HI-MEMS (Hybrid Insect MEMS). They expect that these zombie bugs can be used in security applications.

[Robot Snob]

This video will tell you all about the US Air Force Research Laboratory’s computer generated vision of bird and insect-like Micro Air Vehicles (MAV) of the future. It includes such gems as a suicide MAV insect that can say, land on your neck and explode.

Of course they can also operate in swarms to survey large areas and double their killing fun and even deliver chemicals. These are all conceptual right now, but the future looks downright nasty. Who knows what will be buzzing around in our skies.

[Flightglobal]

Back In Feb we told you about artist Dean Christ’s work with insects. Dean works with real insects, his art inspired by the folks at DARPA.

Well, he has some new stuff to show off and he was kind enough to share with us. He’s updated the cyborg critters with new stats (species name, class, and outfitted weapons). He’s also showing off some new “in situation” shots of the insects on missions against various insurgents.

Frankly it has us itching, double checking our pistol clips and looking around a lot. It wouldn’t be so bad if DARPA wasn’t actually tinkering with these things and creating our downfall. Dean is just providing us a glimpse of what’s to come. Hit the link for more cool images.

Thanks Dean.

[Ubyka]

You and I have been waiting anxiously, shotgun under the pillow, hiding out in junkyards near the metal crusher so we can crush those metal bastards when the time comes. And still we wait. The tension is thick. But while we’re waiting, take a look at what some artist has done with real insects, inspired by the folks at DARPA.

Presumably this person outfitted these bugs with munitions and such not because they are a raving lunatic, but because they are trying to raise awareness about these government projects. If you hit the link, you’ll find such things as: Scorpions on wheels, beetles with jet wings, bats with missiles mounted on their wings. And on and on.

Image copyright to the artist Dean Christ

[Ubyka]

Flying insects use a process called “optical flow” to navigate. It works by translating changes in luminance into the speed and proximity of objects around them. The little helicopter above is using some of those principles of insect navigation, with the help of some researchers at the University of Maryland. In this case, to fly down a corridor. This way of navigating should keep bots unburdened from extra equipment that they usually need to do this sort of thing. If it’s good enough for insects, it’s good enough for bots.

[AVL]

Robot insect builder TinyMinds, creates little robots that will either defend your home or maybe just collectively attack you one day. I don’t know which, but I know they are some cool robo creations. Whether its the flapping wings of the mosquito-bot Gonzo, or the wobbling of octopod legs on his Cthulhu, each of one of the little BugBots is unique. Each bug is made from a variety of found parts and components and they run entirely on solar power. TinyMinds’ robotic bugs range in price from about $60 to $80.

[TinyMinds] VIA [Technabob]