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Robotic Fly to Descend on New York

Posted by Zonk on Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:21 AM
from the now-you-can-be-the-fly-on-the-wall dept.
Sci-Fi Robotics Technology
DeviceGuru writes "Harvard University's tiny microrobotic fly, hailed by its creators as 'the first robotic fly that is able to generate enough thrust to takeoff,' will be showcased at New York's Museum of Modern Art starting Feb. 24. The life-sized 'Flybot' reportedly has a wingspan of 1.2 inches (3 cm) and weighs a mere 0.002 ounces (60 mg). This project of the Harvard University Microbotics Lab has received funding from DARPA, the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which hopes to gain access to micro-miniature surveillance technologies."
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Submission: Robotic Fly to Descend on New York by DeviceGuru (1136715)
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  • Won't be long now (Score:5, Interesting)

    by KublaiKhan (522918) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:24AM (#22138788) Homepage Journal
    The expression "I wish I was a fly on the wall when $EVENT happened" is soon to become reality...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Lumpy (12016)
      Bringing the rise of a new expression...

      "I wish my fly on the wall had batteries that lasted more than 15 minutes!"

      I don't care how small they make it, until it has hours of power in it, it's nothing but a expensive toy.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by KublaiKhan (522918)
        I mentioned in a comment down the page a bit that by the time they get a decent avionics package scaled for the thing, all that broadcast power research that folks keep talking about will have caught on, at least a little bit.

        Or perhaps they could take a leaf from that UAV design that was in the news a while ago that would supposedly leech power from distribution lines--a similar idea, but scaled down to fly size. You wouldn't need more than a few microwatts to power a fly, I shouldn't think, and you coul

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by HTH NE1 (675604)

      The expression "I wish I was a fly on the wall when $EVENT happened" is soon to become reality...

      Would you believe 20 minutes into the future?

      Carter: What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that boardroom wall.
      Bryce: Well, you can if you like.
      Carter: What?
      Cheviot: ...got to stop this now!...
      Carter: Bryce, what is this?
      Bryce: Oh, it's a bug. Well, a fly, actually. It was my graduation project when I was eleven.
      Carter: A mechanical fly?

  • Woody Allen: Waiter, there is a DARPA robotic fly in my soup!
    Waiter: Don't worry sir that GRU robotic spider on your bread will soon get him!

    • Re:This Revolutionizes Woody Allen's Comedy (Score:5, Interesting)

      by KublaiKhan (522918) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:28AM (#22138836) Homepage Journal
      An amusing notion, but keep in mind where the endpoint for this lies. There's two possible routes, as far as I can see:

      First is the Diamond Age route, where the 'bots go smaller and smaller until they get to the nanoscale, and we end up with 'toner' everywhere.

      The second is building a spider to catch the fly, building a bird to catch the spider, building a cat to catch the bird, et al., until you get up to the point where you're making little old ladies swallow equines to take care of a surveillance bug.
    • Waiter: "Ssh! Don't tell anyone, everyone will want one!"

  • Good bye privacy (Score:4, Insightful)

    by DeeQ (1194763) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:26AM (#22138814)
    Welcome Big brother!
    • I dunno - I'm sure these will get smaller, but this thing has a 1.2 inch wingspan - thats a hurking big fly.
      • Now maybe we really can have open government.

      • Re:Good bye privacy (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:36AM (#22138948)
        I hope it's used to spy on government officials and secret boardroom dealings.

        Seriously, I'm beginning to think that's only thing that will save our civilization from the evil sociopaths in positions of power ... the knowledge that everything they do and say might be open to public surveillance and scrutiny. I'm actually willing to give up every last shred of my privacy if it also means the end of state secrets, evil backroom dealings, etc.
  • ...But a fly with a 1.2 inch wingspan would be pretty damn conspicuous where I come from.

    • No worries... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Radon360 (951529) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:34AM (#22138930)

      They are coming out with an equivalent cockroach version in a couple of months. The next generation "fruit fly" model is expected to be available in late 2010.

      • They are coming out with an equivalent cockroach version in a couple of months. The next generation "fruit fly" model is expected to be available in late 2010.

        You can see the initial prototype here [penny-arcade.com].
    • The summary said lifesize, so what about:

      Horsefly, Dragonfly, or some of the ones on this list: http://www.whatsthatbug.com/flies.html [whatsthatbug.com]

      Layne
      • Danny Dunn, Invisible Boy [wikipedia.org]

        Danny exacerbates a small electrical fire, altering an experimental crystalline semiconductor material Dr. Bullfinch was evaluating. Dr. Bullfinch is able to use this altered material to create ISIT (the Invisibility Simulator with Intromittent Transmission), a dragonfly-like probe which could be piloted with a virtual reality helmet and gauntlet gloves.

        -- first published in 1974

  • I can't wait for the robot-themed remake of The Fly [imdb.com].
  • She showed up the other day and put a few bullets in my Sony AIBO, My RoboSapien, and My LEGO mindstorm robot. She was mumbling something about a robot fly in NYC and skynet. I would be carefull you scientists, or she might be comming for you next.

  • Within 6 months, the Spy Store has a portable EMP generator to rid you of any flying spy devices. It will look like an odd cellphone and work like a radar gun that the police use.

    zzzzzzZZZzzttttt and the 'fly' becomes a lay still and collect dust

  • Domestic "Fly" Surveillance (Score:5, Funny)

    by Dareth (47614) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:38AM (#22138990)
    They won't tell us when they start domestic "Fly" surveillance in the US. We will have to guess it will be sometime shortly before or after they outlaw flyswatters.

    I hope I don't get billed for all the lost government property that is swallowed by my cats!

  • Cr@p! Sorry everyone! (Score:5, Informative)

    by cliffiecee (136220) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:39AM (#22139014) Homepage Journal
    I just tried to visit the site again and triggered the old 'Bandwidth Exceeded' message. My bad....

    Yes, the little flybot does appear to work, although a) it's powererd externally, and b) it's on rails that only allow it to move vertically. The narrator of the video admits that [paraphrasing] "We're missing some things, like an independent, on-board electronics package to control it, and a suitable power source." Basically it's just a pair of (working) wings at this point.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Avatar8 (748465)
      Exactly. From the description of the more complicated systems they still have to develop, I think they'd be better off working on micro cameras that a fly can carry and developing a way to control the fly's behavior (where to fly, when to land,etc.). Something more like the cockroach in "Fifth Element."

    • Re:Cr@p! Sorry everyone! (Score:5, Funny)

      by Ed Avis (5917) <ed@membled.com> on Tuesday January 22 2008, @12:24PM (#22139704) Homepage
      It's on rails? Why on earth haven't there been fifty Slashdot stories already?

  • Oblig (Score:5, Funny)

    by $RANDOMLUSER (804576) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:40AM (#22139024)
    Customer: Waiter, what's this fly doing in my soup?

    Waiter: Watching your every move.

  • A better showplace... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Ancient_Hacker (751168) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:40AM (#22139030)
    Maybe a better venue would be to show it at The Museum Of Modern Fascism.

    On the other hand, your basic laws of scaling are going to be an effective law to limit the usefulness of these gadgets. The battery power goes down as the cube, while the air resistance is at least one power below that, so they're going to be mighty short-lived, like seconds rather than minutes.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by KublaiKhan (522918)
      Keep in mind that another area of research that's getting attention at the moment is broadcast power--so you wouldn't have to have an onboard source, per se, but merely a collector to snag a couple microwatts from the local broadcast basestation. It'll probably take about as long for 'wireless' power like that to become popular as it'll take to develop an effective avionics package for the flybot, so that'll work out nicely.
      • Yeah, but isn't your inverse square law going to kill you? I mean, unless you're sitting 100 meters away from your flybot, aiming a 6-inch microwave dish antenna at it, trying to look innocent...
      • So why re-invent the wheel? I'd say you're better off learning how to "reprogram" flies by fiddling with their DNA than trying to re-invent the whole mechanism with silicon and aluminum.

        The best benefit is that the tricky and expensive process of initial manufacture is taken care of for you, at very minimal cost (a warm box with water and sticky disgusting stuff to eat is all you need).

  • Yay for robotic insect surveillance! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Chris Johnson (580) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:42AM (#22139064) Homepage
    I like this- I've written one of these into a book. I had it powered by a broadcast infrared beam aimed at it, and a character fools with it by blocking the beam, causes it to falter, and then is embarrassed because he was caught interfering with it while it was working :)

    If the surveillance culture thing bothers you, keep working on cracker tech so we can always tap into the wireless signal and decode it. Information restriction is going to be impossible. Information parity is where it's at (though it's not going to be a gift- it's probably always going to be a captured prize.) This will tend to create an 'information serf class' which gets lied to by people who are confident they won't be able to sort out the truth.

    Oh wait, got that. I mean in fields like medici.. oh wait. Well... more so :)

  • ...the first robotic fly that is able to generate enough thrust to takeoff.

    If that one was the first it makes one wonder just how many robotic fly failures came before. And where are the spectacular crash videos? Like the ones from the early days of spaceflight.

    Yes, a truly proud chapter in the technological advancement of mankind. The day scientists huddled around their robotic fly and it spread its tiny, robotic wings and generated enough thrust to launch itself into history!

    Quick! We need to bo

    • Funny comments, but it makes me wonder. Isn't this really deserving of a world record for the smallest, mechanical device flying under its own power (as in thrust, not the external power source).

  • When it crashes ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by trolltalk.com (1108067) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @11:48AM (#22139172) Homepage Journal

    ... Your fly is down!

  • Three centimeters wingspan is life-size? What kind of flies are they referring to? That's a pretty big fly. A real accomplishment would be a life-size, US house fly, ~0.5 centimeter wingspan.
    • Three centimeters wingspan is life-size? What kind of flies are they referring to? That's a pretty big fly.

      You should get out of the city more often. We swat 1-inch horseflies [wikipedia.org] whenever we see them, because they bite the horses (and us, if we're slow enough) and spread Equine Infectious Anemia [eqgroup.com] (aka "Swamp Fever", or frequently "Coggins" after the test used to detect it).

      If someone saw an inch-and-a-half specimen, they'd just think it was a little overgrown. Of course, normally when you smash one they splat
    • Have you ever seen a Horse-fly [wikipedia.org]?

  • Fly? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bogtha (906264) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @12:05PM (#22139390)

    the first robotic fly that is able to generate enough thrust to takeoff

    So presumably its predecessors were called robotic walks then?

  • The Character of Americans (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Wylfing (144940) <[brian] [at] [wylfing.net]> on Tuesday January 22 2008, @12:16PM (#22139554) Homepage Journal

    I am sure the comments will be flooded with alarmists screeching about black helicopter secret governments. I have a different opinion.

    I cannot imagine that any truly great surveillance technology (such as tiny robotic flies) won't be used for selfish purposes -- by all layers of American society. You know your manager wants to spy on you, why not spy on your manager if there's no chance of getting caught? Get some nice juicy dirt! Back-room dirty deals among politicians? It's on Youtube now!

    It's hard to accept, but we're hurtling toward a privacy-free society, including corporate board-rooms, Congressional meetings, NDAs (forget em), and whatever you do in your garage on Thursday nights.

    • You know your manager wants to spy on you, why not spy on your manager if there's no chance of getting caught? Get some nice juicy dirt! Back-room dirty deals among politicians? It's on Youtube now!

      We already know who the criminals are. It IS all on Youtube. The sad fact of the matter remains, however, that the bad guys have all the guns and write all the laws and hold all the prison keys.

      The criminals are still running the show and the jails are overwhelmingly filled with poor people. And anyway, robot
    • Hmm. Interesting idea

      Who would be prepared to sacrifice their personal privacy if it meant that all political/coporate interactions were public knowledge? Bribary, embezzlement, collusion... all could see the light of day..

      Hell, if that happened we might even get a free market!

      Unfortunately, I expect it might be a more one-sided loss of privacy in practice.
  • ... is slowly descending upon us.
  • Considering CIA built a working dragonfly *INT platform back in the 70's (scrapped due to poor performance in even the slightest breeze), I suspect that this is but the latest (publicly disclosed) generation of such devices currently in use.

  • The Tangible Reality of the Technology (Score:5, Interesting)

    by bradgoodman (964302) on Tuesday January 22 2008, @12:33PM (#22139844) Homepage

    You can call it "crap" all you want - but guess what! This technology is really on its way - is very real and tangible

    I'm both an engineer and an R/C heli/airplane fan - and I've been pretty amazed at the kind of stuff that's been coming available over just the last few years - and I'm not talking "scientific research" but even commercial products you can find at your local hobby store or mall.

    Lets look:

    Batteries Crazy advances in odd things like Li-Po batteries and "supercaps" which are very light, small, and can charge very quickly.

    Motors Brushless electric motors with much greater power and efficiency. People are literally ripping their gas engines out of their 60-sized helis and replacing them with electric motors and batteries!

    Radios Spread-Spectrum radios which provide operation free of glitches and interference.

    Wireless Video Probibly because of the new CCD stuff from WebCams and the like - there are a billion wireless video "toys" out even for little kids - RC cars with "spy cameras", VEX robotic kits, etc.

    Gyros They keep getting better and better - cheaper and cheaper -helping with stability

    Servos Or the lack of 'em! glue a tiny neodyme magnet on a piece of foam and wrap a wire around it a couple times to control you control surface! They sell tiny foam RC planes based on this

    Stable Helis Counter-rotating helis that are extremely stable - allowing a complete novice to fly indoors quickly. You can even buy one a Brookstones for $29!

    And of course the radios and electronics are of course getting smaller and more integrated. This is an amaizing time for this kind of stuff - I can't wait to see what the next few years will bring!

    • "odd things like Li-Po batteries"

      First thought: Geez, they're putting Polonium in batteries now?

      After a quick googling: Nevermind [google.com].

      Please don't call it that. Li is an element, and readers will assume Po refers to the element as well. Li-Poly is much less misleading.
  • in case the DeviceGuru URL isn't working, try this one [nyud.net]
    • I doubt it will be the government trying to protect you from bears, it's more likely to be some guy on pervypeewatchers.com checking you out

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