Next Generation of Drones Inspired by the Insect World

And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. - Revelation 9:1-6



In first-century terms, the disciple John describes 'locusts' that come out from the smoke caused when the bottomless pit is opened to release the devil during the tribulation of the last days (Revelation, chapter 9). These locust-like creatures could be the next generation of drones (see videos of present generation here). John sees in the vision presented to him that 'locusts' torment men without the seal of God for five months:

"And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them."

John describes the 'locusts' with both human and non-human features:

"The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon."

The Lord reassures His people (those with "the seal of God in their foreheads") that He will protect them from the torment of these locust-like creatures which will come upon the earth in the last days.

Dragonfly Drones and Cyborg Moths: Tiny Flying Robots Set to be the Future of Spying and Rescue Missions

August 1, 2011

Daily Mail - The next generation of military robots is set to be based on designs inspired by the insect world.

The dragonfly drones and cyborg moths, with in-built micro-cameras, could revolutionise spying missions and rescue operations. The advantage of using drones is that they can be used in emergency situations too dangerous for people and in secret military surveillance raids.

Housefly: Scientists hope to harness insects' extraordinary flying ability to cut down the size of military drones

And new research suggests that the mechanics of insects can be reverse-engineered to design midget machines to scout battlefields and search for victims trapped in rubble.

Scientists have taken their inspiration from animals which have evolved over millennia to the perfect conditions for flight.

Zoologist Richard Bomphrey, of Oxford University, is leading a study to generate new insight into how insect wings have evolved over the last 350 million years. He said:

'Nature has solved the problem of how to design miniature flying machines.

'By learning those lessons, our findings will make it possible to aerodynamically engineer a new breed of surveillance vehicles that, because they are as small as insects and also fly like them, completely blend into their surroundings.'

Drone: Unmanned aircraft are currently used for surveillance and bombing missions, but their large size makes them unwieldy

The insect manoeuvrability, which allows flies the ability to land precisely and fly off again at speed, may one day save lives in wars and disasters.

The military would like to develop tiny robots that can fly inside caves and barricaded rooms to send back real-time intelligence about the people and weapons inside.

Dr Bomphrey said:

'Scary spider robots were featured in Michael Crichton's 1980s film Runaway -- but our robots will be much more scaled down and look more like the quidditch ball in the Harry Potter films, because of its ability to hover and flutter.

'The problem for scientists at the moment is that aircrafts can't hover and helicopters can't go fast. And it is impossible to make them very small.

'With insects you get a combination of both these assets in miniature. And when you consider we have been flying for just over a hundred years as opposed to 350 million years, I would say it is they who have got it right, and not us!'

Currently, the smallest of state-of-the-art fixed-wing unmanned surveillance vehicles are around a foot wide. The incorporation of flapping wings is the secret to making the new designs so small.

To achieve flight, any object requires a combination of thrust and lift. In manmade aircraft, two separate devices -- engines and wings -- are needed to generate these, but this limits the scope for miniaturising flying machines.

An insect's flapping wings combine both thrust and lift. If manmade vehicles could emulate this more efficient approach, it would be possible to scale down flying machines to much smaller dimensions than is currently possible.

Dr Bomphrey said:

'This will require a much more detailed understanding than we currently have of how insect wings have evolved, and specifically of how different types of insect wing have evolved for different purposes.'

The team's groundbreaking work has attracted the attention of NATO, the US Air Force and the European Office of Aerospace Research and Development.

The research is expected to produce findings that can be used by the defence industry within three to five years, leading to the development and widespread deployment of insect-sized flying machines in the next two decades.

Dr Bomphrey said:

'This is just one more example of how we can learn important lessons from nature. Tiny flying machines could provide the perfect way of exploring all kinds of dark, dangerous and dirty places.'

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