As unlikely an idea as it sounds, mechanized insects seem to be the next wave of military technology. According to the current research conducted by DARPA, the Hybrid Insect MEMS project aims to transform "insects into unmanned air-vehicles" for various purposes. In other words, they're developing something that you could call pseudo-cyborg insects. Find out the rest of the details of this interesting study by reading our full article.

 

While it may seem like something out of an old Japanese cartoon about giant robots saving the world, the technology actually does exist, and may be replacing today's conventional prosthetics sooner than you think. Yes, the people hard at work at using robotics to help our differently-abled brothers and sisters to lead more productive lives have discovered an alternative power source for functioning artificial limbs. What's that alternative power source, you ask? Rockets.

Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, the rocket-powered bionic arm uses a miniature rocket the size of a pencil to generate pure steam from hydrogen peroxide - and it's this steam that forces pistons to move up and down, thereby powering the advanced machinery in the arm to function and provide motion. And provide it does - the arm quantified as ten times more powerful than other robotic arms, and can do the same amount of movement three or four times faster.

With the arm using rocket technology and all, shouldn't the thing be as noisy as...well, a rocket? Researcher and roboticist Michael Goldfarb reassures that it isn't. "You can be in a room where people are talking at very low levels and never hear it. You have to be very quiet to hear this thing operate."

What about the steam, though? Apparently, the bionic arm is made so that the steam used to power its motors gets vented out through a porous skin-like cover, evaporating like so much sweat. And even then, it's not going to be that noticeable, as Goldfarb reports that the amount of water involved in the entire process is pretty much the same as what a person would normally sweat from their arms.

So when are we going to see the rocket-powered Bionic Arm on the market? Probably not for a while. The arm itself is still in its prototype stages, and the minds behind it are busy thinking up on how to make the model lighter, sleeker and more affordable. It might not be too long a wait, however, provided that DARPA doesn't pull its fundings on the project - as the agency plans on releasing a commercially-available version in two years' time.

Certainly good news that even with today's advancements in entertainment technology, we're also using what we know to help better the lives of everyone around us.

Some days ago, we gave you word that a PS3 was aiding in attempts to drive a car up Colorado's Pike Peak. We've got more information on that project by Axion Racing, as well as some video of the autonomous vehicle in action.

LinuxDevices is reporting that Axion Racing is using a PS3 running Linux to help the company with their unmanned autonomous vehicle (UAV) project, known as "Spirit". The Spirit UAV project outfits a 1994 Jeep Grand Cherokee with state-of-the-art cameras and sensor equipment in an attempt to make the Jeep drive itself.

Axion's recent addition to the project was a PlayStation 3 unit housing Yellow Dog Linux. The said PS3 unit, along with the Linux system and additional software, would be used to "quickly examine information from a RGB road finding camera," albeit to help with navigation on roads.

Axion is preparing Spirit to run in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, which has UAVs conducting "simulated military supply missions in a mock urban area."

In the meantime, if you want to know more about Spirit, we've got a video that explains the different components that are used to drive the Grand Cherokee. This is from 2005 though, so it won't actually showcase the PS3, but it does give you an idea of the kind of processing power they were looking for, something that the PS3 managed to give them in a sleek, black package.

Darth Vader uttered once, "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've created." But when it comes to artificial technology (A.I.), we sometimes can't help but be mesmerized.

Like this one for starters: Stanford University Associate Professor Sebastian Thrun said that we will have robot-driven cars by the year 2030. The professor uttered the rather brave prediction during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science which was held this year in San Francisco.

Thrun's expertise includes Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and he, together with his colleagues, will be joining a competition on November 3 to prove his point. The said competition, which will be hosted by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), will serve as a testing ground for first wave of intelligent robot cars.

Today we can drive about 100 miles before human assistance is necessary. By 2030 you'll be able to see them on the highway, with a driving reliability that will exceed humans by orders of magnitude. We believe this technology will affect all of us. It is going to have enormous significance for people who can't drive because of disabilities or because they are ill or impaired.

The associate professor's pet project is named "Junior" which is a converted 2006 Volkswagen Passat. All steering, throttle, and brakes were modified to be fully computer-controllable. An on-board computer has been placed to determine its location and position using radar and GPS.

At the urgent request of the Pentagon, scientists and engineers are rushing to create a bionic arm that moves, feels and looks like the real thing for the growing number of soldiers losing their limbs in Iraq. The challenge is to make the artificial arm deft enough to handle small objects. If it works as hoped, the arm will deliver sensory feedback to the patient's brain and amputees will feel like they're actually using their own hands.

Greg Clark, a bioengineer at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City adds, It’s a challenging and daunting responsibility. Today’s artificial arm is so much trouble, so cumbersome, that people put it on the closet shelf and don’t use it. The new arm will be different. It can make many types of movements all at once. It can reach out in space, the elbow bends, the wrist rotates, and the hand takes on the shape of the object it’s going to pick up. This will mean a lot to an amputee. People who lost limbs want to feel whole again.

Advances in armor and medical care have decreased the incidence of death in the battlefield, but more soldiers are returning home gravely wounded, creating a need for a more realistic prosthetic device.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has earmarked $55 million for the project and has assigned its management to Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, which in turn subcontracted 28 government, university and private organizations to design and construct sample arms. One or two winners will be selected for clinical testing on patients in 2009.