Soaring Spybot RoboSwift Mocks Real Birds (and Pays the Price)

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 09:25:00 EST

The RoboSwift, built by researchers at the Delft University of Technology, is among the first flying machines with a "morphing" wing sweep. As you'll see in the video below, its wings reduce in surface area when pulled back to limit drag, the way the wings of actual fast-flying swifts do. Unlike the real birds, however, the RoboSwift is designed to spy on you.

Inside its small body (20" wingspan), there's a low-resolution wireless camera. The idea, already thought to be a good one by Dutch police, is that RoboSwift can be used to surreptitiously hover over crime scenes or football riots. People below, if they did look up, would only to see a soaring, swooping bird of no consequence.

The dudes from Delft are so proud of their little 3-oz. beast, they reckon they can even use it to observe other birds without being noticed—they just have to find a way to fold up that propeller once RoboSwift is aloft. Stashing that long-ass antenna on the end of the tail might help too.

In the video below you can see it soar, spy—and crash into a tree—like a true master of espionage. [LiveScience; Reuters]

Gadgets of the Future to Be Indestructible

Louis Ramirez — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 10:48:14 EDT

If Paulette Prins' vision of the future is on target, future gadgets will be nearly indestructible, thanks to flexible screens and all-plastic chipsets. Prins, a Dutch researcher from Delft University of Technology, claims that plastic chipsets should be used in future tech cause they can absorb bounces, drops, and punches from the Incredible Hulk better than their silicon counterparts. So does this mean that all future phones/MP3 players will be rugged? As long as they don't look like this, I don't mind. – Louis Ramirez

Cell Phones of the Future Could Survive Being Dropped [Live Science]

Gizmodo: delft university of technology

Soaring Spybot RoboSwift Mocks Real Birds (and Pays the Price)

Gadgets of the Future to Be Indestructible