- British researchers aim to make aircraft the size of
a bee that could be used to spy inside buildings or monitor dangerous environments
such as nuclear reactors.
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- The micro-aircraft would weigh between 5 and 50 grams
(2oz), take their power from tiny batteries and use methods adapted from
natural bird or insect flight to propel themselves, Dr Ismet Gursul, head
of the aerospace sub-group at the University of Bath's department of mechanical
engineering, said.
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- The work is being carried out with funding from the Ministry
of Defence. "The idea is that they would be able to fly into buildings
some distance away and report back," Dr Gursul said. "Ideally,
you would want it to come back to base, but the idea is that it will be
so cheap to make these that if you lose one then you haven't invested millions
of pounds in it."
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- The idea has been pursued by US military strategists
for more than a decade. Such micro-aircraft "will save lives"
by removing the need to put pilots in danger, said Major John Cane, who
is overseeing the development of the Dragon Eye at the Marine Corps Warfighting
Lab in Quantico, Virginia.
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- Many projects to make unpiloted aircraft have run into
the problems of making the aircraft small enough to avoid detection, light
enough to fly, and with sufficient battery power to reach their targets.
But now they are beginning to break through those limitations, using new
knowledge about how insects flap their wings, allied to lighter, stronger
materials and tiny cameras. Prototypes are now being used in some military
applications.
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- In the US, a company called AeroVironment has demonstrated
a tiny fixed-wing aircraft called the "Black Widow" that weighs
just over 50 grams and measures 15cm (6in) across its wings. That can fly
at up to 40mph, beam back live video, and fly up to 1.8km (more than a
mile).
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- Dr Gursul, who is working with an eight-strong team,
said there was plenty of room for progress. "The larger the aircraft,
the more difficult it is to make it fly because you have to move larger
surfaces," he said. "At small sizes the aerodynamics are very
different, so we are looking to learn from the flight of bees and dragonflies."
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- Battery capacity is another problem. Dr Gursul said that
most current systems "can only fly for 10 to 15 minutes. You need
more power to get further."
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- To succeed, the project will need to master nanotechnology
fabrication techniques: making materials which bond almost at the atomic
scale.
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- The department plans five research projects over the
next two years, funded by the Ministry of Defence, BAE Systems, the Engineering
and Physical Sciences Research Council and the US Air Force Office of Scientific
Research.
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- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=492420
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