Micro-Air Vehicles are Spreading Their Wings

by Alex A. Kecskes

Coming soon: tiny robot aircraft that monitor war zones, seek survivors in disaster areas, and watch your every move. They're called Micro-Air Vehicles (MAVs) and they're just around the corner—some are already here.

MAVs are roughly the size of birds or even bees and they're ushering in a brave—and in some cases—ominous new world of surveillance. Initially intended to detect hazardous chemicals and maintain communications under threatened conditions, these devices are coming off the drawing boards and will soon spread like locusts to seemingly endless applications.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a high-tech arm of the Pentagon, is running field tests of several MAV prototypes. Current designs include fixed-wing rotary-blade bugs and flapping-wing units that mimic birds and insects. To refine MAVs, researchers are studying everything from the motion of a honeybee to the precise flapping of hummingbird wings. Propellers may have to be enclosed in rings and sharp objects curtailed to prevent the tiny flying bots from becoming entangled in trees and wires--or with each other. Many missions would require multiple MAVs operating in tandem. And yes, they will have to communicate with one another. So researchers are also looking at creating microchips that function like an insect’s brain.

On the downside, like insects, MAVs will be able to crawl, fly and work in swarms to achieve their goals. These "goals" can be anything from surveillance to eliminating human targets by exploding upon contact or even "stinging" targets with sleep or lethal agents.

For scientists interested in micro devices and aerodynamics, MAVs will offer some exciting new employment opportunities.

For an interesting video on MAVs, check out US Air Force Flapping Wing Micro Air Vehicle.

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