One of the project insectbots is modeled after an ant and the way they can skedaddle over rough ground. Who needs insect robots and particularly ants but roll with it. There's more to this than a science trick. (Science Daily: Insect-like microrobots move just like real insects)
In work that will be presented during the AVS 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition being held November 6-11, 2016, in Nashville, Tennessee, Sarah Bergbreiter and her colleagues in the Maryland Microrobotics Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park, have not only build microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices the size of insects, but have also created them to move just like real insects.
One of the team's bioinspirations is ants. "Ants can move at speeds over 40 body lengths per second on all kinds of surfaces, so we have looked to them and other insects as the models for how we want our microrobots to behave," Bergbreiter said.
Bergbreiter envisions a future where insect-like microrobots are being used to search for survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, inspect bridges for signs of breakdown and provide low-cost sensor deployment for a variety of monitoring applications.
Half of the participants had a constant two milliamp current transferred to the brain throughout the 36-minute test, while the other half only had 30 seconds of stimulation at the beginning.
The results showed that the first group started performing better four minutes into the test.
“The findings provide new evidence that tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) has the ability to augment and enhance multitasking capability in a human operator,” and the effect is “profound,” the study says.
The new technology is regarded as a safer option than prescription drugs like Modafinil and Ritalin – both of which are used by the military to enhance performance.
In work that will be presented during the AVS 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition being held November 6-11, 2016, in Nashville, Tennessee, Sarah Bergbreiter and her colleagues in the Maryland Microrobotics Laboratory at the University of Maryland, College Park, have not only build microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices the size of insects, but have also created them to move just like real insects.
One of the team's bioinspirations is ants. "Ants can move at speeds over 40 body lengths per second on all kinds of surfaces, so we have looked to them and other insects as the models for how we want our microrobots to behave," Bergbreiter said.
- Science Daily
Ed: unless I'm interested in ant races, who cares?
Roll with it.
How about if your disaster team arrives at the site and immediately dispatches the insectbots to start searching. While you're getting your kit in order to get down to some life-saving, the insectbots are locating still-living targets. Sound like crazy sci fi?
It's only just what the researchers envision:
- Science Daily
Ed: a 'bot which doesn't destroy anything? How can that be.
Remarkable, isn't it. Now we have even advanced far enough to make non-destructive 'bots. What will science think up next.
Something the existing 'bots will destroy is the drone operators because the military is putting them into brain stimulation kit which sends mild electricity to various locations in the drone operator's brain to make him or her more alert for missions. You think I make this up?? (RT: Brain stimulation to help US drone operators, airmen perform better at multitasking – study)
In a string of experiments at the air force base, researchers had 16 men and four women (average age of 31) take a test developed by NASA and aimed at assessing multitasking skills. During the test, the subjects had to keep a crosshair inside a moving circle on a computer screen, while at the same time constantly monitoring and responding to three other tasks on the screen.
In a string of experiments at the air force base, researchers had 16 men and four women (average age of 31) take a test developed by NASA and aimed at assessing multitasking skills. During the test, the subjects had to keep a crosshair inside a moving circle on a computer screen, while at the same time constantly monitoring and responding to three other tasks on the screen.
Half of the participants had a constant two milliamp current transferred to the brain throughout the 36-minute test, while the other half only had 30 seconds of stimulation at the beginning.
The results showed that the first group started performing better four minutes into the test.
“The findings provide new evidence that tDCS (transcranial direct current stimulation) has the ability to augment and enhance multitasking capability in a human operator,” and the effect is “profound,” the study says.
The new technology is regarded as a safer option than prescription drugs like Modafinil and Ritalin – both of which are used by the military to enhance performance.
- RT
Is anyone going to pretend there is any knowledge of the long-term consequences of doing this to people.
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