DARPA scientists want to create an army of cyber-insects that can be remotely controlled to check out explosives and send transmissions. The idea is to insert micro-systems at the pupa stage, when the insects can integrate them into their body, so they can be remotely controlled later.
The U.S. military, facing problems in its efforts to train insects or build robots that can mimic their flying abilities, now wants to develop "insect cyborgs" that can go where troops cannot. The Pentagon is seeking applications from researchers to help them develop technology that can be implanted into living insects to control their movement and transmit video or other sensory data back to their handlers.
Scientists at the University of Georgia have developed a method for training wasps to detect chemicals and other susbstances. The technique could be used to detect explosives or toxins in public areas and could be available for commercial use in 5-10 years.
Trained wasps could someday replace dogs for sniffing out drugs, bombs and bodies. Scientists say a species of non-stinging wasps can be trained in only five minutes and are just as sensitive to odors as specially trained dogs.
Ants might be able to run telecommunication networks better than humans. Researchers have found that control programs based on the foraging behaviour of ants can keep data networks running more efficiently and cope with congestion better than many human alternatives.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is studying critters to gain insights on developing sensors that can detect airborne chemicals or surveil hazardous areas.
Researchers have attached electrodes to a locust and attached it to a robotic cart to see if their wing motions could be used to steer the vehicle.
Researchers at the University of California are are experimenting with discrete programs that have been modelled on bees and ants as a way of managing the projected increase in internet traffic. The researchers chose insects as a model because while individually these insects are very stupid, if you have enough of them together they do a very efficient job of running and maintaining huge structures like nests and hives without any central control.