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DelFly Micro Dragonfly Is Smallest Creepy Autonomous Spybot Yet
Posted by John Mahoney at 9:20 AM on July 24, 2008
We told you the tiny DelFly II robotic dragonfly spy cam was just the beginning, and we were right. The same Dutch roboticist is now unveiling the DelFly Micro--with a wingspan of just 10cm and a weight of 3.07 grams, it's the first to be smaller than an actual real-life dragonfly. Granted, the dragonfly being used for comparison is Borneo's Tetracanthagyna plagiata, which has a frankly horrifying 20cm wingspan--the largest in the world, no less. But still, now you're even less likely to realise those annoying bugs whizzing around during your protest march are actually just autonomous insectoid ornithopters keeping an eye on you--nothing to worry about. See it take to the air, complete with live eye-in-the-sky video feed, below.
[DelFly via IEEE Spectrum Blog] Thanks, Erico!
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
thefonz101
Posted 11:17 AM 24/7/08
WANT!
thefonz101
norubiT
Posted 11:11 AM 24/7/08
The close-up picture makes it look like they were given half an hour to come up with a discount material autonomous spybot. seriously that looks like saran wrap and Legos
still looks pretty cool i wonder if i can pick one up at haha.
norubiT
liquidsoapdispenser
Posted 10:39 AM 24/7/08
This thing reminds me of a tiny $250 RC plane I was given as a give, and the damn thing would crash and break every two or three flight attempts. It was a joke. My lesson was to avoid small, super-fragile, expensive flying toys.
liquidsoapdispenser
Valicious
Posted 10:38 AM 24/7/08
@DarthZigger: yeah I linked that to the directly solar powered motor.
Came late.
Valicious
DarthZigger
Posted 10:17 AM 24/7/08
@Valicious: In the second article(not about this flying machine), they talk about using alternatives to batteries,
You can get more energy out of a drop of gasoline than out of a battery the size of a drop of gasoline," said team leader Robert Michelson.
DarthZigger
Valicious
Posted 10:03 AM 24/7/08
Soil thee before the battery is over , three minutes it says.
Valicious
bosskev
Posted 9:33 AM 24/7/08
Cool! I've been looking for years for a way to get haphazard video closeups of my ceiling, and here it is at last! I wonder if they have a companion model that surveys walls?
bosskev
92BuickLeSabre
Posted 9:25 AM 24/7/08
Reasons I Won't Worry...Yet
1) Still too Realistic: Appears to be overly-attracted to light.
2) Still too unrealistic: Sounds like a frikkin Water Buffalo.
92BuickLeSabre
RG_Shrike
Posted 9:24 AM 24/7/08
I'd hate to be the guy stuck having to watch video from that thing.. I'd puke my guts out all over the controls. but other than that. it's cooool
RG_Shrike
LoganSix
Posted 10:14 PM 24/7/08
That zoom on the main camera was very loud. They need to point the camera on the fly down, so they aren't taking a picture of the ceiling.
LoganSix
m4ximusprim3
Posted 12:28 AM 25/7/08
@liquidsoapdispenser: *sigh* it's so true. Unfortunately, once you go down the rabbit hole, it becomes an exercise in rationalization: "I've spent $200 on parts, I can't give up now"
m4ximusprim3
unspellable
Posted 1:19 AM 25/7/08
It's flight pattern reminds me more of a moth... I wonder what it would be like if it ran into one of those zappers?
@norubiT: a on your blinking HTML skills!
unspellable
aec007
Posted 1:36 AM 25/7/08
This is so high-tech!... but a low-tech flyswatter can stop it.
Back to the drawing board guys......
aec007
ackthbbft
Posted 3:13 AM 25/7/08
@aec007: Like the President in "The 5th Element" squashing that roach-spybot. ;)
ackthbbft
cgarison
Posted 4:43 AM 25/7/08
Where do I buy. I need this for the office.
cgarison