In the near future, the planets of the solar system will be inhabited by artificial insects. Mechanical creatures will even settle inside the person himself
A group of scientists from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands has proposed sending a dragonfly to Mars. We are talking about a reconnaissance robot, in flight, repeating the movements of the wings of this insect.
“Its purpose will be to reconnoitre the terrain, to point the rovers to places of interest for research and to help them navigate,” says one of the developers, Tanya Zegers.
The dragonfly was presented to the European Congress of Planetary Science in Münster. Earlier, a terrestrial model of a dragonfly was created by the Delft University of Technology, but in order to fly in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars, a new artificial insect will flap its wings much faster. With some modifications, dragonflies are also possible on other planets, New Scientist reports.
Robots and devices imitating living beings have been known for a long time. Back in the eighteenth century, the Frenchman Jacques Vacançon created a mechanical duck that quacked, swam, moved its wings, peeled feathers, pecked grains and swallowed them.
But this imitation was purely external. Bionics, a science dealing with the application of forms, structures and principles of organization of living things in technology, studies and models, first of all, certain features of the organism that distinguish it from others. And, of course, less worries about the model looking and behaving like the prototype.
Thus, the one-legged "robot kangaroo" has neither head nor skin and outwardly only distantly resembles its prototype. But he can jump and the data obtained during its development will subsequently be useful in creating other devices and machines, because jumping is the most economical and effective way of movement, almost without obstacles.
There are also robots that mimic the snake, worm, cockroach, fish, and even a water strider. All of these studies are largely aimed at not only studying animals and insects. Having reproduced its method of movement, one can think about its application.
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There are an infinite number of assignments for robots capable of getting into places inaccessible to wheeled or tracked vehicles. Rescue operations, exploration of places dangerous and inaccessible to humans are seen as the first possible.
The military is also interested in them. Miniature, fast and manoeuvrable, the dragonfly can be an ideal surveillance and espionage device. Medicine plans to use a robot worm to diagnose intestinal diseases. And, given the rate of extinction of living species on planet Earth, we may soon find ourselves surrounded by mechanical animals. As predicted by some of the science fiction writers.