"Lethal" Insect Drones Take Flight: Can Watch, Film And Kill Targets Unnoticed

 

Credit:  AFRL

The new project has been shown in a promotional video released by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. Its Air Vehicles Directorate is developing the Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that it claims “will become a vital element in the ever-changing war-fighting environment and will help ensure success on the battlefield of the future.”

“Unobtrusive, pervasive, lethal – Micro Air Vehicles, enhancing the capabilities of the future war fighter,” 
 
Credit:  AFRL

 

The tiny drones will be able to enter inaccessible locations using new forms of navigation such as a vision-based technique called “optic flow,” which can be used when traditional methods like GPS are unavailable.
 
Credit:  AFRL

 

Most importantly some MAVs may perform direct attack missions, becoming a lethal surprise for unsuspecting targets. 

 

Credit:  AFRL

The science writer, John Horgan, described what information he was able to access from the government: The Air Force has nonetheless already constructed a “micro-aviary” at Wright-Patterson for flight-testing small drones. It’s a cavernous chamber—35 feet high and covering almost 4,000 square feet—with padded walls. Micro-aviary researchers, much of whose work is classified, decline to let me witness a flight test. But they do show me an animated video starring micro-UAVs that resemble winged, multi-legged bugs. The drones swarm through alleys, crawl across windowsills, and perch on power lines. One of them sneaks up on a scowling man holding a gun and shoots him in the head.

 

“It could be equipped with incapacitating chemicals, combustible payloads, or even explosives or precision-targeting capability, ” according to the video.

Credit:  AFRL

According to Horgan, however, the U.S. government “takes seriously” the potential for widespread proliferation of “micro-drone” technology among terrorists and governments: What, one might ask, will prevent terrorists and criminals from getting their hands on some kind of lethal drone? Although American officials rarely discuss the threat in public, they take it seriously.” 

 

 
The µAVIARI is composed of four separate MAV experimental laboratories that provide a collaborative work environment for partners throughout AFRL as well as across industry and academia. The µAVIARI firmly establishes AFRL’s vision as the premier organization for leading the development of MAV technology. 

Unsteady Aerodynamics Laboratory. This facility consists of a large water tank with an impeller that guides water over and around a submerged test article at various rates of flow. The water tunnel allows scientists to use methods such as flow visualization and particle image velocimetry to study the aerodynamic flow around a MAV. 

MAV Fabrication Laboratory. This lab houses a wide range of tools and equipment that allow researchers to quickly build and modify MAVs. The lab includes such tools as a laser engraver that provides the ability to cut and etch materials, and a 3-D printer that allows researchers to fabricate models quickly, easily, and inexpensively.

Flapping Wing Bench Test Laboratory. This laboratory allows scientists to record MAVs in motion, using high-speed cameras and other instrumentation to capture their smallest movements. By intricately studying the motion of MAVs, the forces produced, and the structural deformations measured, researchers can obtain insights into the physics behind flapping wing flight to help them better understand the overall nature of MAV flight.

MAV Indoor Flight Test Laboratory. This lab is the cornerstone of the µAVIARI. The Indoor Flight Lab allows for the separation of airframe development from sensor, communication, and payload development, meaning these technologies can be developed independently and simultaneously. The lab is composed of a test chamber and a control room. The test chamber is a large, instrumented room where MAVs can be flown. Instrumentation consists of a VICON motion capture system with 60 motion capture cameras.

 

 By adding small retro-reflective markers to a vehicle, the VICON system can track position and orientation of the vehicle with an accuracy of ~1.0 mm. The test chamber can simulate an urban environment, complete with winds, to test MAVs in a controlled, operationally realistic environment where test conditions can be easily repeated. The control room is used to simultaneously command multiple test vehicles as well as to process and record test data such as: vehicle position/orientation, velocity, acceleration, commands, sensor telemetry, and video-stream and audio data.

 

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