This cyber platform carries up to 9 grams of payload.
Let’s take a caterpillar. At some point it starts to remake itself into a butterfly. The question is simple: Is it possible to give her synthetic ingredients for buildinh that will provide cyborg-insect? Answer – Yes it is. And Michelle Maharbiz did it.
When the scientist from Berkeley created the first cyborg-bug at once the military (DARPA) came to him and asked if he was going to kill people, plus what would happen if his bug ran away, and the would wildly proliferate.
Maharbiz explained that he does not kill people,has no plans (yet) about making dangerous insects, and their reproduction does not scare him, because Cyborg does not transmit instructions for its adjustment during sex. Defenders of animal rights were also explained that the beetles were not tortured, and there were no complaints from them about the bad treatment. True, he now just consider the ethical aspects of using insects as components for the electronics, but this is the tenth.
Choosing the carrier
Maharbiz took beetles as a basis. The choice is interesting: the fact that the biological design of the beetle is that it contains something like the battery of the battery and can carry up to 20% more than its weight. That is, the beetle has a reserve on the upgrades and features, plus a battery which powers it for a long time and opens up some freedom of use.
Technology of control
Speaking simply, the beetles are controlled by certain resonant frequencies. Various events cause different muscle stimulation of the resonance of the shell, which in turn activates the actions of other specific groups of muscles. Controlling resonance one can give commands to the beetle.
Maharbiz inserted the optical stimulants into the brain of the beetle and electrostimulators in a couple of core muscles. The first type of interaction – is the work of the brain: start and finish variations. The second type – a stimulation of basal muscle on each side for turning. Roughly speaking, when the muscle is strained the beetle, the beetle fully understands that he has a turn – and starts doing it. Something similar to the interrupt system.
Later the system was transformed into a micro-antenna, a microcontroller, which has a radio transmitter and a small microphone to listen to the vibrations to synchronize the wings (the beetle flies at a very complicated scheme, so it is extremely important). As a console they plugged Wii – and began playing the beetle.
The first thing that turned out – was thet in the brain of the beetle there was a place that gave 98% probability of correct execution of the command to “start” and “stop” of the beetle. Depending on the signals the biosystems of the beetle are adapted to flying position, for example – and get into a loop where it can not stop until the signal stops. It happened so to learn to control the beetle in two ways: “fly-landing” and “turn right – turn left.”
Restrictions
It is clear that the beetle, even upgraded to the proud rank cyborg is not a robot, so accurately calibrating of the system does not work. From insect to insect control errors are different: the fact that each cyborg has its own the biological balancing system, plus its own nervous system, which is lined up for generations to respond to different signals from the outside world. Beetles are corny different, so without an intermediate link in the chain of control, playing the role of synchronizer-calibrator, one will not achieve the same reaction.
Another problem stems by the same nervous system. The control is still low-level, that is affected by baseline levels of exposure. Cyborg in the implementation of responsible mission may be interested in a flower, “a beetle of the opposite sex” or something more interesting and important – and it immediately demolishes the system of priorities, or simply causes extraneous activity. In the end, no one explained the beetle about scientists and the Pentagon, that’s why it tries to live itself somehow.
Continuing studies
Then Maharbiza colleagues found muscle-scleritis, which alone was responsible for flight control. The completed installation of an insect on the special mount,they managed to improve the accuracy of control – and not at the level of direct influence, but, roughly speaking, the physiological impact of sending “thoughts” of the beetle. Now, scientists do not have enough feedback from the sensory systems for precise control of the insect, but this is being solved.
Will we make a player?
Digital miniaturization is associated with biology very closely. Biological systems are available in nature very wide, they are cheap and easy to reproduce. There are many organisms, plus they can be output to the desired stage. The result is that now you can use some of the insects as accessories to a variety of techniques. For example, they already have a built-in gyroscope, a flying unit and the standard sensors.
Imagine the situation: the formulation of the flow, make the insect controlled by the platform costs, for example, about $30, plus about $100-130 is a base station to control. This very rude use of an insect could be fun at first, and then – the industry.
Come on. You can start producing a variety of strange things that will be a mixture of living and nonliving chains. Synthetic control networks, and biological components – is already a reality, and a little scary. And that’s exactly what the Maharbiz is doing now in Berkeley.
Вperhaps one of these is already flying behind you.
And now we get control of the neural network
Kiberimplant can be inserted in the pupa at a stage when it is formed (not too early – will perish, and not too late – rejected). Japanese researchers have conducted studies on the implantation of microcontrollers in the head of the insect. When this thing has evolved, the controller has become a perfect management system, which can connect all the necessary peripherals and power supply. Media was in panic, but then there was no practical sense in the discovery.
After a year and a half at Berkeley a way to buildi nterface in a butterfly through which the neurons held to the eye was found. The hypothesis was tested: in the chrysalis implanted perforated flexible polymer, which gave a stunning fusion. The eye formed correctly, but that neurons pass through the implant – and the implant could be removed from their data. Simply put, the technology of recording images from the eye was got (although, until the input is not clear that more needed to decode the “protocol” data within the insect).
Insect with this implant is behaving normally and properly responds to the outside world, including being among its own kind. Now the group of Maharbiz is recording neural events, and analyzes the data. It is planned to reduce the interface for the recording more events. The dream is to collect all the data from the sensors of the insect and to use them for automated control and other tasks.
And batteries also
The next breakthrough is a fuel cell in the insect. The scientists modified the glucose fuel cell and set it on the bug. Beetle shall submit glucose to the body, the cell produces electricity for other kibersystems of the beetle. Now a few weeks, the cell works and gives a 10-20 mkW. In the long term – a couple of years and 100mkVt. For longer more advanced technology or more cells in the insect are needed. Radio transmitters can already be built up without much difficulty, just expensive.
Maharbiz shows the new beetle from Thailand: one can build something useful of it.
