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DARPA Creates Remote Controlled Insects

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the bug-with-a-bug dept.

EmagGeek writes "Attempts by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to create cybernetic insects (hybrids of biological and electronic 'bugs') have yielded ultra-low power radios to control the bugs' flight and a method of powering those circuits by harvesting energy, according to research that will be reported this week at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference. 'Electrodes and a control chip are inserted into a moth during its pupal stage. When the moth emerges the electrodes stimulate its muscles to control its flight. I expect a run on bug zappers any day."

26 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords by relikx · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you sign up now you won't get hive duty and can assist as a pollinator.

    1. Re:I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords by conureman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This sounds far too inexpensive to trust our Fearless Leaders with. The only thing that has saved us so far is the cost of deployment.

      --
      The cost of that cleanup, of course, will be borne by taxpayers, not industry.
    2. Re:I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Hm, not sure how this is a dup? Original article said what BAE systems were working on in the UK (but did not even have a working prototype of); this article says what DARPA and Boyce are working on in the US (but also no working prototype).

      Too, DARPA's project seems to be focused on combining bio and electronic/mechanical systems, while BAE's was basically a robot.

    3. Re:I, for one, welcome our new Insect Overlords by Denihil · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, i think the taxpayers spend $1500 on a hammer. Sucks for them! Oh wait....dammit.

      --
      WÌÌfÍ--ÍSÌÒÍ...Í...ÌHÌÍfÍÍÍ--ÍÍÍ
  2. Bugs? by Locke2005 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Queue avalanche of "debugging" jokes in 4... 3... 2...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Bugs? by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 3, Funny

      1... 0... -1... -2... -3...

      oops, sorry the damn while loop was never told to break at 0, looks like it will just have to wait till CTRL+C!

  3. It hasn't happened!! by Marc_Hawke · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What a waste of time. They are presenting papers about what their research goals are. They haven't actually done it yet.

    There are other people with research goals to find a cure for cancer....but that's not news.

    --
    --Welcome to the Realm of the Hawke--
    1. Re:It hasn't happened!! by flaming+error · · Score: 3, Interesting
      > Re:It hasn't happened!!
      Citation Needed.

      FTA:

      Boyce Thompson Institute ... presented progress.. describing silicon neural interfaces for gas sensors that were inserted into insects during the pupal phase. ... Researchers led by DARPA contractor MIT will present a low-power ultrawide-band radio, a digital baseband processor, and a piezoelectric energy-harvesting system that scavenges power from vibrations.

      I didn't find a more specific article, but it sounds to me like they've got some working hardware they're going to demo. If I'm reading it wrong, I'd appreciate a better link.

  4. They would have had this technology ages ago by dmomo · · Score: 2, Funny

    But in QA they decided they were to buggy.

  5. Can I Get One for Me? by Bob9113 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can I get one of these things to take my lazy butt down to the gym in the morning?

    --
    Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
  6. Re:I saw this in a B movie on the sci-fi channel. by someone1234 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I saw a bugged cockroach in Fifth Element too.
    I hope one day they will be able to reconstruct a person from fragment DNA too :)

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
  7. Re:I saw this in a B movie on the sci-fi channel. by cHALiTO · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I hope they can reconstruct my own personal Milla Jovovich from fragment DNA :)

    --
    "Luck is my middle name," said Rincewind, indistinctly. "Mind you, my first name is Bad." -- Terry Pratchett
  8. This gives a whole new meaning... by spinlight · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... to the act of filing a "Bug Report".
    "What did the bugs report today?"
    "Don't ask me, it was filed in the bug report."
    "Have the bugs reported?"
    "Not yet, but they'll be buzzing the tower in a few minutes."

    --
    "I do not avoid women, Mandrake . . . but I do deny them my essence." - Gen. Ripper
  9. At mere $3,000,000 per bug... by Phizzle · · Score: 5, Funny

    At mere $3,000,000 per bug our government will create swarms of moths to charge into the windshields of Taliban truckers and irk the crap out of them.

    --
    I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
  10. Obligatory... by GlobalColding · · Score: 2, Funny

    ZOMG, do they run Linux?!

  11. Re:I saw this in a B movie on the sci-fi channel. by moteyalpha · · Score: 2, Funny

    The problem is she would probably clone me from a fragment of my DNA and leave you.

  12. War of the Bugs by mezzaninex · · Score: 2, Informative

    I saw a demonstration of something just like this at UC Berkeley. Cool stuff. http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Research/Projects/Data/105682.html

  13. Moses claims prior art . . . by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 3, Funny

    . . . didn't he have swarms of 'dem critters? Sicked 'em on the Ancient Egyptians, and stuff. Since Moses was a meticulous man, he probably kept the blueprints for his remote controlled insects in a safe place. All we need to do is find the Ark of the Covenant; the plans are probably in there.

    Or have the patents belonging to biblical leaders expired already?

    And if you need God to power the insects, that might be a bit of a problem. Only CERN has that much energy at their disposal.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  14. Re:So then. by geekoid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's an implanted device. It can't mutate.

    You might as well wonder what will happen if you cell phone mutates.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  15. Still can't resist the sex... by 7Prime · · Score: 4, Funny

    He cites some limitations for insects, including a tendency for moths to approach light sources (the proverbial flames) and a powerful sex pheromone response that could override attempts at remote electronic control. "Pheromones are incredibly powerful," he says.

    Even billions of dollars in US military funding can't keep a moth from getting laid.

    --
    Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
    1. Re:Still can't resist the sex... by Arancaytar · · Score: 3, Funny

      On the other hand, Slashdot can accomplish the same for millions of nerds with no government funding at all!

    2. Re:Still can't resist the sex... by Benfea · · Score: 2, Informative

      The whole moths-flying-at-light sources isn't about mating, it's a malfunction of their navigation methods.

  16. Re:I saw this in a B movie on the sci-fi channel. by ijakings · · Score: 2, Funny

    I remember something similar sounding in Time Crisis 4, which incase anyone was wondering is the worst time crisis ive ever seen.

    I know you arent, but I dont care.

  17. This has been achieved... here are some videos. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    One group of researchers doing this sort of control of moths:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP9ZA8dUU5g&NR=1

    Another group that does metabolic research of moths to see how much they can carry and how long they can fly for:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFKEWDfDO1A

  18. Cellphones mutating? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Its more likely than you think. ;)

  19. Why Moths? by Narnie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why the hell are they using moths? If they want to weaponize insects, they should pick something like the honey bee. You only have to control one, make it sting your target, and then the rest of the hive will defensively respond to the sting alarm pheromones.

    Or maybe pick a cockroach. Sure they don't do much, but they should be able to survive the nuclear holocaust.

    Or pick a social insect like the ant and have it lay a "food here" trail to your enemy's food stockpiles. You control a few hundred ants and manipulate the actions of whole colonies. I think that controlling moths posses a "that's neato" aspect, but controlling a social insect could yield more interesting results.

    --
    greed@All_Evils:~#