The control accuracy of cyborg beetles has increased

Researchers have learned to control the flight of a cyborg beetle with high accuracy

DailyTechInfo by materials Phys.org : Cyborg beetle research allows free-flight study of insectsA group of researchers from the University of California at Berkeley and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore have created another flying cyborg beetle.

By connecting this insect to a computer using a wireless communication system, the researchers found out to the smallest detail all the subtleties of its musculature and turned the acquired knowledge into a number of algorithms that allow remote control of the insect's flight and movements with high accuracy, forcing it to make precise turns, hang in place and perform other "tricks" in the air.

Data on the work of the beetle's muscles were collected by electrodes implanted in the beetle's body in certain places. A tiny microcontroller turned this data into a digital form and transmitted it through a miniature receiving and transmitting device to a computer that understood the "porridge" of numbers transmitted to it and isolated control signals of individual muscles.

Using the array of collected data, scientists drew attention to the role of one muscle, the third axillary sclerite (3Ax), which, as previously thought, was used only for folding insect wings. However, this muscle also plays the role of a kind of regulator and stabilizer, involved during flight and performing various maneuvers in the air by insects. And this information was used to create new cyborg insect control algorithms that provide higher accuracy.

The giant flower beetle Mecynorrhina torquata, whose body is about 6 centimeters long and whose weight is about 8 grams, was taken as an experimental beetle. An electronic module weighing 1.5 grams was installed on the back of this insect, turning it into a cyborg. The brain of this module is a tiny microprocessor, to which six electrodes are connected, and the entire module is powered by a miniature lithium battery, with a voltage of 3.9 volts.

During the test flights, which were conducted in an enclosed space equipped with eight tracking cameras, control pulses were applied once per millisecond. Such a high frequency of electrical stimulation and the use of new muscles made it possible to control the beetle's flight with much higher accuracy than was possible with beetles of "previous versions", which was confirmed by data from tracking cameras.

"Beetles are ideal objects for use in bio–cybernetic research, they themselves are quite large and strong, thanks to which we can hang a relatively heavy load on them," says Hirotaka Sato, lead researcher, "We can hang a small microphone, thermal sensors and much more on a beetle that can be used when search and rescue operations. By sending beetles to explore, we can explore areas where being in them is deadly for humans. And the small size of the insects will allow us to explore even the most nooks and crannies in destroyed buildings."

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru18.03.2015