COM-BAT swoops in to gather data on reconnaissance missions

The University of Michigan's COM-BAT most definitely isn't the first mechanical animal to get its inspirations from the bat, but it's probably the best equipped to play a vital role in modern day warfare. A select group of Wolverines have been blessed with a $10 million grant from the US Army in order to concoct a "six-inch robotic spy plane modeled after a bat [that] would gather data from sights, sounds and smells in urban combat zones and transmit information back to a soldier in real time." Purportedly, the critter will eventually boast a bevy of sensors, miniature microphones and detectors for picking up nuclear radiation and poisonous gases. Even more interesting, creators are hoping to implement "energy scavenging," which would enable the bat to stay charged from wind / solar energy along with vibrations and "other sources." So much for being nocturnal, eh?

[Via UberGizmo]

[Aguiluz @ Mar 19th 2008 4:45PM]

Is it me? Or is it photoshopped? Or maybe CGI? Hmm... Maybe it's a mockup.

[Aguiluz @ Mar 19th 2008 4:46PM]

EDIT: Eh... It is CGI and it's a mockup. I just answered my own question by using the READ link. :)

So we can't expect this flapping around houses soon.

[thebigDallas @ Mar 19th 2008 5:40PM]

the too realistic to be real reflections on all the surfaces always gives away the cgi drawings for me

[Jerome @ Mar 19th 2008 11:19PM]

if you want 10 million in cash, you better have a idea of what you want to build!

It is a model to show the army what they want to build

[Nate @ Mar 19th 2008 4:49PM]

Bonus points if they make it "scavenge" for energy by pausing its mission to eat living things, converting them to usable energy and guano.

[Smart People Play Tuba @ Mar 20th 2008 9:40AM]

Screw that. Give it some fangs.

[paul34 @ Mar 19th 2008 5:08PM]

>> COM-BAT

I see what you did there.

[John McPoop @ Mar 19th 2008 5:17PM]

If the final product ends up looking like that that would be phoenominal

[scott @ Mar 19th 2008 6:17PM]

It's only a matter of time before this tech is misused though.

[Shaocaholica @ Mar 19th 2008 6:45PM]

What are you? The tech police? Name one tech that hasn't been misused.

[Rick @ Mar 19th 2008 5:25PM]

I hope they thought about the falcons and hawks that are bat predators. Air-to-air combat!!!

[Esat @ Mar 19th 2008 5:44PM]

All I know is, if I had to choose to have sexual intercourse with a mobile phone, it would be this one.




It is of the upmost importance to note that the above sentence was based purely on the assumption that I too would be a mobile phone as opposed to the species homosapien. Ultimately though, if this were the case then said phone and myself would be mere tangeable objects and not sentient beings, therefore rendering any acts of intercourse 100% improbable.

[Esat @ Mar 19th 2008 5:46PM]

Never.. EVER have I in my life desired a 'delete post' buttonso much as I do in this particular moment. This is by far entirely the wrong article.

Officialy the most embarassing internet post of my 19 years on this earth.

Nothing I say will make this any better.

I'll let myself out (and, incidentally, repost under the correct article ;)

[Esat @ Mar 19th 2008 5:48PM]

In a last ditch attemp to recover my dignity, here is where I should have posted, for those of you thinking I'm a complete maniac ;)

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/19/xperia-x1-white-paper-reveals-yet-more-details/

[Matt @ Mar 19th 2008 6:01PM]

And yet, your comments are oddly appealing and bizarrely applicable. I'm ranking you up.

[skulldriveshaft @ Mar 20th 2008 3:03AM]

+1

[Matt @ Mar 19th 2008 6:03PM]

The more I think about it, the more I burst into hysterical laughter at your comment. I am picturing a bunch of engineers sitting around talking about specs, and you burst into the room with a bottle in your hand, slurring your speech, and say "ALL I KNOW IS, if I had to choose to have sexual intercourse with a mobile phone, it would be this one!" And then you pass out.

Ah, priceless.

[Esat @ Mar 19th 2008 6:06PM]

Wow. I'm amazed I did something even remotely productive with those comments.

I have an exam tommorow and I'm procrastinating on engadget like my life depended on it instead of revising.

Who the hell decided to invent data handling exams? Probably a sadist.

[Chris Rodgers @ Mar 19th 2008 6:26PM]

Has anyone ever seen the DARK CRYSTAL?

[Velik @ Mar 19th 2008 6:49PM]

dark crystal... hmm, is that the old brit made movie with weird creatures/dolls and such that are victim to the dark crystal that you finally get to see towards the end...??? never seen it.

on an unrelated side note, I sure hope they paint that thing in the picture at the top a better color like, i dunno, BLACK and make it out of something that might sustain flight, unlike stainless steel.

[Chris Rodgers @ Mar 19th 2008 7:00PM]

In the movie there was a Bat that streamed a live feed from what it saw back to the Crystal.

[errrduh.... @ Mar 19th 2008 8:06PM]

Yeeesssssss....skeksis likessssssssmmmmmmmmmmm

[Wisam @ Mar 19th 2008 6:26PM]

See this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ykSipes3o&feature=related

I wish I could work with DARPA :"(

[Maff @ Mar 19th 2008 6:35PM]

i'd tap it

[Raj Luke @ Mar 19th 2008 6:41PM]

On the same topic, check out this post from Slashdot.
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/18/1551252
"The University of Michigan's Center for Objective Microelectronics and Biomimetic Advanced Technology (COM-BAT) is working on building a robot bat that would perform long-range reconnaissance for the U.S. Army, but U.Mich is currently struggling with miniaturizing components in order to make the bat small enough to be stealthy. 'The focus is to shrink down many electronics that while currently available would only be good if the US Army wanted, say, a 12-foot spy-bat.' Some components need to be 1,000 times smaller than they currently are. The Army's $10 million grant proposal calls for the bat to be six inches in length, weigh four ounces and use just one watt of power. The bat is supposed to be powered by a lithium-ion battery, charged by solar and wind energy, as well as simple vibrations."

[michaelportent @ Mar 19th 2008 10:36PM]

I can hear the Headline News anchor now...

"This just in - 4 U.S. soldiers died today when an experimental 12-foot reconnaissance bat accidentally crashed into a barracks and exploded. The Pentagon could not be reached for comment...

Up next, find out while you'll be paying even more at the gas pumps this summer..."

[Drooling4carcass @ Mar 21st 2008 4:55PM]

is that a hook on its ass so it could hang upside-down on power lines?! And maybe draw POWR from them too!!!!

cause that would be bad ass.

[dajimmers @ Mar 19th 2008 8:47PM]

That's what I was thinking- if you're going to use it for urban spying, you might as well make use of all that power surrounding you. I want to see the thing clamp vampire-bat style onto a wire and suck its juice dry.

Just out of curiosity- anyone know why they want a bat form-factor? I assumed hovering was key in urban settings- thus a helicopter or dragonfly design...? Heck, I'm at UM, I should go ask them!

[sully @ Mar 19th 2008 9:16PM]

I believe this is the most apt use of the cliche ever.

I for one welcome our robotic bat overlords!

[bw @ Mar 20th 2008 12:56AM]

with all these strange new "creatures" the 21st century is starting to define itself.

[acatalano @ Mar 20th 2008 1:02AM]

And to think US Citizens are among the few in the industrialized world without healthcare...but we have loads of money for $hit like this. Wake up voters.

[skulldriveshaft @ Mar 20th 2008 3:07AM]

THE EYE OF







oh nevermind

[Dan Davis @ Mar 20th 2008 8:49AM]

Well, since nobody else said it... M GO BLUE!

We're gonna use this bat to bite Terrell Pryor!