Nano sized remote controlled A/V drone?

Originally posted by parker
There has been some chatter about the United States having a remote controlled spy drone about the size of a very small fruit fly.And that this tech was reverse engineered from other worldly technology. Has anyone read about this device. It was eluded to by an ex-military person in a book i have just read, But i have also read other articles that suggest we have this tech and that it is in use right now.......Science Fact or Science Fiction ?
Parker

The most important technology specific to MAVs was created in 1995 when MIT's Lincoln labs developed a TV camera on a computer chip. The MIT scientists quickly developed plans for a micro aircraft to carry their new camera. While the planned aircraft would never have got off the ground, the concept aroused much outside interest. MIT's camera provided the opportunity to employ a micro vehicle in a useful mission. Previously cameras had been too bulky to fit on such a small vehicle.

The second major field of advance is in micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). These are fully working devices, such as engines, that have been built at microscopic size. MEMS advances mean that components essential to a full size aircraft, such as gears, bearings, combustion chambers or flight controls, can all be made on a micro scale. MEMS will also allow the construction of tiny instruments such as accelerometers that are required for an internal navigation system.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected for negotiation six proposals to develop flight-enabling micro air vehicle technologies as part of the Micro Air Vehicle (MAV) program. A total of approximately $12 million has been allocated by DARPA for the flight-enabling technologies effort over the next three years. Award of funds is subject to negotiation.

The selected proposals, which range in size from approximately $650,000 to $3,000,000, are listed below. Final amounts will be determined during negotiations.

* Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. - “Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) Based Micro-Gas Turbine Engines for Micro-Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)”
* D-STAR Engineering, Shelton, Conn. - “Low-Observable, Safe-Operation, Fuel Efficient, Light Weight Propulsion and Power System for Advanced Micro Air Vehicles”
* Technology in Blacksburg Inc., Blacksburg, Va. - “Thermoelectric-Based Advanced Micro-Air Vehicle (MAV)”
* SRI International, Menlo Park, Calif. - “Flapping-Wing Propulsion Using Electrostrictive Polymer Artificial Muscle Actuators”
* Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. - “An Elasto-Dynamic Ornithoptic Flying Robotic Insect”
* California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. - “Micro Bat”