Gizmodo
Army dudes sat down with scientists at University of Michigan and other schools and asked for a simple frickin' bionic bat with frickin' stereo cameras, miniaturized radar, ultra-sensitive self-guidance, "energy scavenging" recharging capability and a radio to send data back to troops in urban combat zones. Was that too much to ask? Here's how it's working out for them:
The proposal is for the bat to be just six inches in length, weigh only four ounces and use just one watt of power, backed by a lithium-ion battery, which could be charged by not just solar energy, but wind energy and random vibrations as well. The bat's intended goal would be to run surveillance ops and relay data in realtime, including sights and sounds from minicams and mini-microphones, but also radiation and poison gas readings.
The UMich grant consists of $10 million over five years, creating the U-M Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (dubbed "COM-BAT"—pun intended). The focus is to shrink down many electronics that while currently available would only be good if the US Army wanted, say, a 12-foot spy-bat. Not too stealthy.
For energy recovery, UMich will work to develop "quantum dot solar cells," making current solar cells twice as nice. The bat's autonomous navi system will be 1,000 times smaller than current systems, and that much more energy efficient too. The comms system will be shrunk to one-tenth the current size, too. You can see how all of this shrinkage will have positive impact outside the bionic-bat community as well. [UMich via Ubergizmo]
Comments
Since bats only come out at night and these are solar powered, doesnt that sort of kill off the stealth part?
It's good that these will be for survaillance and not used as a weapons platform, like many UAVs. I mean, It's too small for a flying bomb, right?
No, wait...
@Curves: Designed for "urban combat zones." I don't think that while dodging bullets, missiles, and/or puppies with C4 taped to them anyone is really going to notice that 200 feet up is no mere pigeon.
@DJrock3k: it could BEEEEE the bomb (pun intended =P)
@DJrock3k: Actually, bats were once tested for use in Japan as combat weapons. In a weird twist, during one of the "tests", the napalm bombs that were attached to each bat were accidentally armed, which resulted in most of a abandoned air force base burning down.
@Curves: I wouldn't imagine that it needs to be 'active' to recharge.
how come they havent turned these things into remote detonating devil bats? im sure ozzy would be proud
I'm thinking that garlic will be an excellent counter-measure for these things.
Price and availability please! I so want one of these.
Great tech. But from a program management standpoint, this program is risk dense. You have large tech you are looking to miniaturize (cost, schedule, and performance risk) and then integrating that into a subsystem (cost and schedule risk) and finally developing your flying bat platform and integrating the subsystem onto that (cost, schedule, performance risk). And who is going to managing the program - the ARMY! Not known for their stellar program management skills (botched IED proof vehicles anyone?).
I wish it could happen for $10M, but you have to figure at least $20M - $25M. Develop, test, and buy. The money will be taken from this program in the 2nd or 3rd year dut to cost overruns and/or lagging schedule and given to some other program that is in dire need of the money just to stay out of the garbage pile.
7+ years in gov't acquisitions gets you pretty pessimistic about anything that is wonderfully techy and could be useful to the warfighter.
Concept? Ohhhhh.. I want one now!
@Git Em SteveDave:
Use against Japan.
It's getting to a point where these things will be so small, you won't even know they're there! If they are small enough and hover, you could put one right under the ledge of a building and you couldn't see it. Anyone play Frontlines? You'll know what I mean. You can put the thing inside a window and still spot the enemy. It's pretty wicked.
Vapor-war....I mean Vapor-bat?
It'd be cool if they could latch onto power lines and use an induction coil to charge.
@junyo: against Japan in Japan. It would be tough to use these against the Japanese navy at Midway or the such. Sorry if I phrased it wrong.
What eats bats?
Lets get some of those up here.
@AC0: If you look at the back end, there are what look like the landing hooks a la navy planes. It could work.
to ACO that was my first thought. just what the obombies need a bat bomb.
They eat bats in China and Bornio.
@strider_mt2k: Robotic bat hawks? :P
How about some nifty entomopters that look like dragonflies?
How about robotic roaches that scurry around the buildings?
@Way: Dude. My Mom died from not dodging a puppy with C4 taped to it...
...bastards!
Make me one with a resevoir tip.
good computer graphics - want to see the real thing.
i hate the u.s
@Manve: But the u.s love you. How 'bout a hug?
Seriously... hawks, eagles, and owls would be snatching these things out of the sky.
How effective are they on a windy day?
At any rate, 10 million of funding into communication miniaturization and improved solar technologies has far reaching benefits.
Hey! this beast could launch from the backs of those robotic anti-personnel dogs and help guide the packs to their intended, politically unpopular victims!
@Manve:
Can we get a hate sensor on the flying bat spy bombs?
@Manve: Its cool to hate our government, a lot of us dont like it either.
If you hate us though, please have the gonads to come at us from the front, guns blazing instead of being passive/agressive little cowards, hijacking planes and crashing them into buildings or hiding behind women and children and blowing up civilans. I, for one, think our armed forces will welcome you with open arms, or bullets. I know I would.
@flyboy: there is no real thing, there won't be any real thing, cuz a 4 oz. tin can would be completely at the mercy of wind shear. And to keep it flying on a rechargeable BATTERY? Please. This is another photoshopped, defense industry, funding wetdream.
@Manve:
Hey opinion is opinion. Not unlike arsewholes, everyone's got one and they mostly stink, but come on. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and entitled to comment on it here within the boundaries of the site, but at least make it funny, interesting, or provocative….. or even inflammatory.
That was none of the above.
@lianna_g: wow, you are so right on, I mean this thing is just a scam to get your tax dollars, get the navi system 1000 times smaller, thats a goal all popular hi-tech companies crave for (like cellphones..) even if you get these specs ...
@ whoever mentioned that: yeah, arabs can easily train a hawk to hunt for these, it`s their tradition, then you would have to fund (with your tax money) a 100 mil $ project to detect offensive hawks and to disable them without hurting them because that would be against animal rights...
@Curves: passive agressives (?) don`t hijack planes, active ones do, you gotto be pretty actively and pretty agressive to do something against your religion, for your religion.
I had one of these when I was a kid. It was called "The Amazing Flying Bird" and I strapped a mini 110 film camera to it's head.
Didn't work worth crap, but it didn't cost $10 million either.
@Kaiser-Machead: The problem is that it always always ALWAYS boils down to the apes that die come winter. :(
Just wait for Wow-Wee to come out with the militarized version of their Dragonfly.
Isn't this the next logical step to that Camera which could be shot out of a hand-held canon for checking the urban landscape? But if this has to fly around for a long time, then I think the US is looking something like Zephyr (UK), only a little smaller.
Man always wants to develop more and more things to monitor people and control people and also give the same people gadgets to fight back. Man is self contradictory.
-GGR
@lianna_g: that's it - EXACTLY
@Manve: he wrote on US software to a US blog about US products.
eff off twat..
@Curves: Well, it could charge during the day, and fly during the night.
@ugar: Isn't the bat cave dark during the day? (or at night for that matter) and since bats hang upside down to sleep, the solar part faces down, even if there was light, they wont get a charge. I am just saying that since they designed it like a bat, the least they can do is give it bat-like qualities.
@Way:
"Designed for "urban combat zones."
Detroit.LA.New York.SF.Washington.Atlanta.Chicago.Bhagdad.Brownsville.Compton.Tehran.
those kinda places?
this is probably the only time youll ever want to hear about "shrinking the bat"
Bats.
Barbeque'd Bat Wings From Hell!
Yum.
(Anyone remember the name of the KROQ DJ who used that line in a skit?)
@Git Em SteveDave:
Hey, I have that book too!
I would like those things to have the ability to take-off autonomously. Toss in solar cells for wings, and you have something that can park itself in the sun when energy is low, and gtfo when energy is sufficient. Of course, something silver/metallic lying in the sun is quite noticeable... hmm. Disguise it as a soda bottle or something.
Definitely suck on power lines like a f$(|N Minock!!!
See bats rule cause they have small muscles that change
the shape of their wings. Which is exactly what you need
to do to land on power lines! I'm thinking the flight tech
is as important as anything else...All the hobbiest people
like the autopilot guys and the paparazzi guys will eat
up a integrated nav board like the cookie monster!
You can order PCB's with integrated GPS and accelerometers...
But yeah good luck!
p34c3
@Ghede: what if someone tries to drink it up? o.O