TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Robots Only a Dark Knight Could Love

Stan Gibson | Date: 07-14-09 | Comments

Scientists are building robotic bats that could be sent into hazardous locations for reconnaissance and rescue missions.

Scientists at North Carolina State University are building a robotic bat that will be far more maneuverable than a small model airplane. Researchers led by Dr. Stefan Seelecke, a professor at N.C. State, are aiming to closely mimic the musculoskeletal structure of bats to build automated devices that could be sent into hazardous locations for reconnaissance and rescue missions�much like the proverbial canary in the coal mine.

�I�m fascinated by the possibility of building biological rather than mechanical devices. Engineering is not really what nature does,� said Seelecke.

Key to building a prototype is the use of shaped memory alloy (SMA) wires�tiny filaments that can do the work of muscles by bending and then returning to shape repeatedly using only battery power�no motor. �They are metal muscles. You send a current through them, and they perform the actual work the way the bat does,� said Seelecke.

The N.C. State researchers are building on bat research from Brown University, where bat anatomy and aerodynamics have been studied extensively. Seelecke suspects the flapping motion of bat wings may be the key to building a highly maneuverable micro-aerial device.

�We�re working on one that will flap its wings. We have assembled the skeleton, and it will have membrane by the end of the year,� said Seelecke. However, for the prototype to fly, the right electronics technology must be added, the professor explained.

Rescue missions could be carried out by a swarm of the robots. �One could have a gas sensor, one a camera, one a navigation device. They could form a network,� Seelecke said.

Thus far the research is unfunded, although Seelecke said he hopes to attract funding from the National Science Foundation or the Department of Defense.