MAVs and UAVs and Insect Flight Characteristics seem to have ...

MAVs and UAVs and Insect Flight Characteristics seem to have a lot in common

From: Lance (MAV -UAV Research Project-optic flow sensors)
Remote Name: 66.82.54.37
Date: 01 Nov 2003
Time: 04:14:04

Comments

MAVs and UAVs and Insect Flight Characteristics seem to have a lot in common. Millions of years of evolution in nature seem to have been one of the greatest engineering schools around. So now the schools are looking to nature. However as we study nature, nature is not good enough. The world is not good enough that is why all species are continually either modifying to fill their niches or they perish. Designing machines after nature because it looks cool maybe fine. But a Mosquitoes job is to suck blood and reproduce and fly around to it’s meal and egg laying. If we design MAVs for other purposes which nature had not thought of such as flying into something and blowing up (single mission MAVs) then obviously a miniature flying missile would be better using a rather fast inexpensive engine? A controllable bullet, and slowing the bullet down to maneuvering speed is a good idea. Slowing it down for surveillance if appropriate may require getting a few tips from nature, such as a bee or humming bird, which hovers a flower checking out which is best. And in that regard the flight characteristics are good advice. But looking at the thorax and the rest of the insect might be questionable since the little insect has other needs and is a compromise itself for it’s niche or mission in life or survivability against it’s food chain hierarchy; a bat, a bird, a frog, gecko, another insect or whatever. With larger units such as UAVs; (please read this first) http://parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000022.htm both RC size and aircraft size there are other thoughts and extended missions and fears of irretrievability and we may wish to look at the Owl, Seagull, Eagle, Raven, Falcon, Condor or the Pterodactyl. Or for a slightly larger version such as a 2/3 scale aircraft or flying bomb or ICBM well they have designed these for years, here is one in WWII under the names V-1 and V-2 and there were some you did not hear about also; http://www.walter-rockets.i12.com/missiles/enzian.htm . UAV hypersonic delivery to region or target; see page 4. http://www.tfd.chalmers.se/~valeri/Ajax/hypersonics.pdf . under the names SCUD, ICBM, Lance Missile Systems. Today we have flying bombs smart as they come and Tomahawk cruise missiles all based on these old ideas. Now we wish to slow them down hunt, take pictures without being heard or seen. Silent and some deadly which is not all that different from a scout in an insect group or swarm http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000053.htm or flock of birds; http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0703/0000007c.htm or the mimic theories of today’s top universities trying to copy nature. But those who study evolution ought to understand the other theories, which involve cataclysmic evolution (natural disasters), luck of the draw, survival of the fittest, superior reproductive systems, etc. There are many species that will not be on the planet in half a million years, not to mention the number of identified endangered species, many of which are not suited for life on the planet and others we have prematurely caused to decrease in numbers which make it nearly impossible to go on. We are one of them and even if we are or some similar form of what we are, you can bet we will look significantly different. Perhaps even in the next few hundred years we will have modified ourselves to be more energy efficient and adapted for this and other planets or travel. With that said we maybe copying some huge mistakes if we copy nature. Now then if you are to copy a Salmon fish or a small rodent, an ant or a bee, a cockroach or a Mosquito, then 400 million years of evolution might be a good bet. The human race being a branch of such tree shrew, primate, modern human, may not be best suited in large populations for survivability long term in the present form living on the hostile surface of this planet within linear time. So mimicking a human being for a robot would not be smart. Something else might work much better; http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000024.htm The backbone of a human has a tailbone, we have an appendix, our feet are not correct for our frame (thank god for New Balance), all types of things that are unnecessary and problematic and have not yet evolved out of the genome. So when copying it or using it as a basis for a model is incorrect thinking, since the human being is far from perfect. Now then how can we be sure a Mosquito is the proper model to work from? http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000043.htm And http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000041.htm and http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0802/0000006c.htm and what about the disease vectors within these insects? http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000055.htm . Flying bugs: http://www.robots.org/MAVBots.htm Pretty cool and you thought a West Nile Mosquito was dangerous? http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0803/00000041.htm . Even birds are cool for design, but that flapping wing thing? http://www.parthe.net/_cwg0703/0000006e.htm . Well there is one brilliant guy out there who seems to have been studying this stuff for a decade and seems to have it figured out; http://www.dickinson.caltech.edu/research.html . And even this team is wondering and trying many types of materials, so what type of materials do you use? Well check out what they decided and forget the MAV idea, because at less than 20 cm, and looking like a big bug from Central America, It is called an MFI- Micro-Mechanical Flying Insect? Whatever, still it’s sting is worse than any living thing? http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ronf/mfi.html . Oh well now the enemy will have to spend millions to make a better mousetrap or fly swatter? Well too late there is already a patent on it; http://www.flyhunter.com/patent.htm . Simply give your house robot one of these? http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/final99.htm . Sure why not? Perhaps this can be used on larger UAVs or perhaps as an anti-aircraft to bring down international Terrorist pests; http://www.confusionroad.com/article.php?article_id=75 . Here is a list of the items we are looking into; http://www.dickinson.caltech.edu/research_publications.html#controlmaneuvers . And what can power these small bugs? The slightly larger MAVs designed for NASA have it figured out. MAV Fuel; http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/mars/marssurf.html Sprinkling smart dust in bird feed to simulate a UAV attack on radar. But what do you feed a MFI? Remember it stands for Micro-mechanical Flying Insect. After all it’s payload is a consideration too. And with the flight of insects and unpredictability of such flight, how good is it at carrying a camera? Surely it can be used for many other things of importance besides taking pictures. But stable flight is of value for maneuvering in tight spots; http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000025.htm and http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000028.htm . The question I propose is can man better nature? Surely we can, we do every day. We modify rivers, places to live, things we eat. We bread horses and dogs to get the best ones. We have bread people as slaves, sick idea really. But soon people will be modifying for intelligence, athletics, dexterity, resistance to diseases and personal appearance. Women get augmentation and enhancements. Men take Viagra. Everything we come in contact with we modifies. Soon we will control our weather, our longevity and interface with computers and plug in chips and communication devices into our skin. We will be able to better nature. We will be able to make nature better and makes systems work better. Why not modify the MAVs to serve man, not the MAV? Why not better the best. We know the weaknesses of bugs after all we kill them with pesticides. We know our own weaknesses such as fear that we use to control other human beings. We use our weaknesses to manipulate our fellow species. We do it in sports, business, leadership, education, parenting and even war (psy-ops). We should not copy weakness when looking into the behaviors of animals and insects when designing the next greatest innovations. Nature has made mistakes, this is not a perfect world, it is not good enough in so many regards. Those things we can fix, which do not adversely hurt some other important aspect of the important flows, cycles or systems, then by all means do it. I believe that these students studying nature, except for a few, are really wasting time and are not serious about their efforts. This is serious business. The few in the industry and I have named a few here are rare, less than 3%. The others are having fun in robotic engineering and can cause serious problems in the future if they do not submit to the rigorous commitment it tasks to lead us into the future. These issues of studying nature to better aerodynamics, fluid dynamics, tactics, materials, etc. is serious to many fields such as Biometrics, NanoTech, Biotech, Communication, Network Sensors, Propulsion, Fuels, etc. etc. As we read through the papers written by many of these students you have to wonder why on Earth they are getting a passing grade for building stuff that does not work or is not viable and even known before they start, yet they pass it off as some kind of a break through and look for VC since DARPA is looking at many options in this area now. But don’t we deserve better? We can design something better than before and better than nature, with new flight characteristics and move beyond the present period or anything that nature has yet to show us; http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000027.htm . We need a way to prevent simple technologies from blocking our path; http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/00000024.htm . Some may not be able to see where we are going in the future, but after studying all the latest technologies it is rather obvious. The human race is going to the next step. And it is happening now, this maybe the era that future generations of which we may still be involved with due to longevity or human brain computer interface downloads in a big way will look back on and say wow, they really did it. Like the last 100 years going from the first cars to men on the moon, through two world wars and then the invention of the computer and all it’s incredible uses. http://www.parthe.net/_cwg1003/0000002f.htm . These new fields of science will bleed into each other, so every single building block is becoming more and more serious. These things will affect National Security in a big way and each and every single incremental advancement will affect all the other close sciences and each of those will be relied upon for the next advancement in the other. There is no room for shotty workmanship, half ass effort or late night parties. Our colleges and universities need to work harder to bring these things to market, to the military and catapult us into the future. We need more diehards in these fields who are serious and make it a religion so to speak. Right now the United States and our allies are on a roll, we need not slow down or coast now. Those are a few of my thoughts on the near future. I am getting tired of waiting. We need more funding to the top researchers and better work out of the other. We need this now, not in a decade. Now. We need tight timelines and we need to achieve now. If we have to borrow technology from the future, from the past, from nature, fine do it, but only if it makes sense and only if it works and fits into the needs of mankind. We must make this happen. Yes this technology has so many uses. So many of the technologies we are working on do. The DNA work, and mapping and reading, next the proteins, RNA. This is the answer to health care, understanding how we work, why it works and how we can beat Cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer’s, Heart Disease, MS, you name it. Hypersonic Flight, Energy research and Hydrogen Cell technologies, Super computers and programming, Weather Control, Automobile and Transportation safety, Computer-Human Interfaces, Modified Crops, National Security technologies. Look here is the deal every company knows that future profits will come from today’s R and D. During the second World War we were forced to produce, create other wise we end up speaking German. We created so many great technologies. When we decide we are going to do something we do it, when we have to we rise to the occasion. This is something that Americans are good at. Against all odds, against any adversity, we are performers. We must right now, decide that we are moving forward and give it our best, not half way. Not good enough for government work. All the way and since we already went to the moon last time we decided we were going to do something, I guess we had better shoot a little further this time. Forget all the reasons it cannot be done, all the excuses, all the nay sayers, let’s just do it? Go buy some Nike Shoes tomorrow. Think a world with no limits. Let’s blast through this dimension, through time lets think small as small as we can and let’s think big and far as we can. We are living in a great period and we must make it count. The time is nearing, the future is now and I know we can do it. Get busy. I am sorry if these thoughts bug you, http://www.robots.org/MAVBots.htm because this is only the beginning: http://www.toymania.com/news/messages/1213.shtml Lance…out ------ Lance@carwashguys.com

Site hosted by CCG

Site design by CCG Studio

DISCLAIMER:
Although we exert control over all articles written by our staff and consultants, we are in no way able to assure the accuracy of any content generated by our readers. Any information or advice provided by our readers should be used cautiously, and should be considered as an opinion of such, and not the views, ideas, opinions, or advice of Washguy.com. Washguy.com., its staff, and consultants shall in no way be held liable or responsible for any false or misleading information or injurious advice obtained from our readers, including any information posted to this Bulletin Board forum. Any information or advice obtained from other readers through Bulletin Board postings shall be used at the reader's own risk. The Bulletin Board forum functions as a discussion group for the exchange of views, information and opinions on issues related to the Car Wash Guys, Franchising and their associated topics. Washguy.com, its staff, and consultants will not be held liable for any incidental or consequential loss or damage sustained as a result of this information or advice. No user shall be entitled to claim detrimental reliance on any views received from the staff, consultants or other readers. By using this Bulletin Board and it's related forums, you agree to indemnify and hold Washguy.com, its staff and consultants harmless from any claims arising as a result of your use of the information or materials you download from or upload to the Bulletin Board.