I'm not sure if this or something similar has been posted on this, but I searched and couldn't find anything. Anyway, I am reading Deception Point by Dan Brown and he mentions something like this in this book. It's really kind of a brilliant idea. The idea of a micro mechanical bug that carries micro cameras or mirco explosives, or simply populate areas and bring down jets by swarming a runway. Well, just thought I would post the link so you could read about it. These could be manufactured economically and on large scale to save lives in several ways. What do you think?

Here is the link.

Kata

Wow that's cool. Those could be used for a lot of things.

And so it begins...the take over by the machines.....

It's cool but scary...imagine if these things got turned on the general population...or is it late and I am just getting paranoid?

I been watching these micro robots pretty closely for awhile now. That one in the link is the robo-fly I believe. Quite amazing little robots the real problem as I see it now is the power source being to heavy as of now.But they are working on that

Another team has already created the first flapping wing mini robot and already have the thing flying. Its much bigger then Robo-fly but still small.

People are already studing hive thinking in robots which will be perfect for these little guys. A bunch of dumb robots can do some complex things when working as a team or hive.

I know these things are going to revolutionize the spy game big time. Ever wanted to be a fly on a wall soon the goverment will be able to do just that.

Hey ShadowXIX,

Not sure if it is a possibility or not, but the way they explain the recharging in Dan Brown's book "Deception Point" is that it could land on anything with some sort of an electrical field, such as a tv, lamp, cell phone, etc... and it would gather power from those sources. Wether or not that is a fact or just simply fiction I don't know, but pretty cool idea none-the-less.

Later,
Kata

Kata thats a interesting concept but far beyond what I know about robots. I think in the near future we are going to see some amazing things from robots and the line between Scfi and real life will begin to blur.So it might be possible in the future.

If you could figure out how to make robot with the ablity to become a electric leech it could be very handy. It might be a ideal for really small robots like nanobots because they would need such a small amount of energy and you wouldnt even notice one sucking juice off something.

The idea of recharging in an electrical field is a good one. If the robots skin was made up of thousands of micro-magnetic switches, you might be able to utilize the field indirectly. If the switches are highly sensitive, and surrounded by charge, they should bounce back and forth, repelling and attracting each other. You might be able to derive power simply from their friction with internal components, or through 'ratchet' molecules and a central dynamo.

Or, you could use thermal-energy panels to utilize the heat being put off by internal functions, and the environment. They already have solar panels that utilize heat, why not micro panels to power micro robots?

That is very interesting. Just goes to show you how far we have come with technology. What worries me is if they can be equipped with cameras and bombs can't they also be used for chemical warfare? We would never see them coming. Sometimes i think some things are better left undiscovered!! Are we getting to advanced for our own good? In the wrong hands that incredible machine could be our death sentence!

Well its not as small as the robofly but heres a interesting flying micro robot from Japan.


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"On board is a 32-bit microcontroller, a super-thin motor, a digital camera that sends blurry images and a tiny gyro-sensor that weighs less than one-tenth of a gram. "

The thing even uses Bluetooth

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