Darpa hatches plan for insect cyborgs to fly reconnaissance

October 5, 2007 | Source: EE Times

Cyborg insects with embedded microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) will run remotely controlled reconnaissance missions for the military, if its ‘”HI-MEMS” program succeeds.

The Hybrid-Insect MEMS program hatched earlier this year at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency plans to develop cyborg bugs to patrol, gather intelligence, penetrate secret meetings, track targets, retrieve samples and more.

For now, the DARPA program is concentrating on micro-miniaturizing MEMS sensors that can stream data back from video cameras, audio microphones and other sensors the insect is carrying. Next, they plan to incorporate microfluidic devices that can pack different chemicals to be delivered as payloads–for instance in a bee sting–and to dispense pheromones to control the flight of swarms. But Darpa’s ultimate plan is to eventually hack into the insects own natural senses, allowing the remote-control operator to look out of the insects own eyes, instead of attaching a video camera for it to carry.