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19 Mar 2008
Scientists at the University of Michigan have been awarded a $10m grant from the US military to develop a 6in robotic bat to be used in surveillance operations.
The grant will pay for the university's new Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (Com-Bat) which will build small robots that can be used in a variety of roles.
The robotic bat will use batteries, solar cells and even the vibrations of its resting place to generate and store power. It will be able to record pictures and sound from targets, and future models may even be able to record smells.
"Bats have a highly attuned echolocation sense providing high-resolution navigation and sensing ability even in the dark, just as our sensor must be able to do," said Bat director Kamal Sarabandi.
"These are all concepts, and many of them are the next generation of devices we have already developed. We are trying to push the edge of our technologies to achieve functionality that was not possible before."
The scientists envisage the bat carrying directional microphones, high-resolution cameras and smell or radiation detectors.
The 30-person Com-Bat centre will focus initially on the sensing organs of the bat before building a prototype.
The researchers envisage the device as a short-term surveillance tool or as something that would stay still for long periods before moving on to a new target.
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The means of defense against foreign danger historically
have become the instruments of tyranny at home.? -- James Madison "Davidson's legal travails began on January 16, 2005, when she told the U.S. Air Force that her husband Michael Severance, an airman, had been missing since the day before. Air Force investigators and the San Angelo Police Department began parallel investigations, which led them to conclude it was unlikely that Severance had deserted. Air Force Special Agent Greg McCormick did learn early on that Davidson owned a horse on a ranch, but investigators didn't know where it was. In hopes that Davidson would lead them to it, Air Force agents placed a tracking device on the underside of her car in the middle of the night on February 26. ... The trial judge found that the military investigators followed procedures when placing the tracking device on Davidson's car, not least because they consulted with the U.S. attorney and obtained approval from their regional commander. .. The appeals court said there was insufficient evidence to show that she should have an expectation of privacy on the property. What's more, it said nobody should have any expectation of privacy in an "open field" and upheld her conviction. Excerpts from Texas Appeals Court's opinion: In any event, the government's intrusion upon the open fields is not one of those "unreasonable searches" proscribed by the Fourth Amendment or Article I, Section 9. The Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 9 accord special protection to people in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, but that protection does not extend to "open fields."
Posted by: Geoffrey of Bordentown 23 Mar 2008