Robotic Fly Lets Military Spy
Professor Robert Wood of Harvard University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences considers the life-sized robotic fly small, agile, and, from a military perspective, inconspicuous. With funding offered by the U.S. Military, Harvard researchers spent seven years working on it. Composed of lightweight carbon joints, the bug moves like an actual fly, with wings that beat 110 times per second. As it only weighs as much as the head of a pin and has a wingspan of just 3 cm, the U.S. Defense Department intends to use the robot for military surveillance operations. No word on speed or range of the gizmo. As for commercial availability, we highly doubt it. After all, the most obvious purpose of a device that can see you but that you cannot see is for spying.
