cyborg beetle

DARPA is at it again.  Actually, they’ve been at it for a while.  Since about 2006, DARPA has been working on a system called HiMems: Hybrid Insect Micro-Electro-Mechanical System.  This research was debuted right here in Tucson Arizona just this past January 2008 at MEMS Conference!  The MEMS system is used to control the locomotion of an beetle by obtaining motion trajectories either from GPS coordinates, or using RF, optical, ultrasonic signals based remote control.

This project happens in three phases.  At the first phase, a micro-mechanical system is implemented inside the insect during early metamorphosis which are the caterpillar and the pupae stages of development.  The secondary phase  involves streaming data back from video cameras, audio microphones and other sensors the insect is carrying. In the future, DARPA hopes to see microfluidic devices that can pack different chemicals to be delivered as payloads or to dispense pheromones to control the flight of swarms. But Darpa’s ultimate plan is to eventually hack into the insects own natural senses, allowing the remote-control operator to look out of the insects own eyes, instead of attaching a video camera for it to carry.

The final phase involves flying the cyborg insect to within five meters of a specific target starting at a distance of one hundred meters. Researchers will use a remote control or automated systems with global GPS to conduct this test.  If the research team passes the test successfully, then DARPA can begin breeding multiple beetles.

Three research groups at the University of Michigan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Boyce Thompson Institute were awarded funding by Darpa earlier in 2007, when the HI-MEMS program began, and all teams are expected to share prelim results during annual reviews. If all teams are successful, then each could be expected to start breeding hundreds of reconnaissance insects.

The University of Michigan is using horned beetles int their program, and MIT and Boyce Thompson are using large moths.  At the MEMS conference, all teams had to demonstrate controlled, tethered flight of the insect via their new systems.

To learn more about this project, read the full EE Times article here.