When scientists and engineers are looking to develop a new concept, they often take inspiration from nature. Through biomimicry, characteristics from nature are applied to solve human problems. One of the most obvious examples of biomimicry is the bird and bat wing inspiration behind many aircraft designs. But sometimes, biomimicry goes beyond just physical characteristics, replicating behavioral aspects as well.  One example could be how scientists have developed drones to behave like rodents for use in landmine detection.

Experts estimate that there could be as many as 110 million landmines hidden around the world. Rats are known for having highly tuned olfactory organs and can smell food sources at great distances. Scientists have trained rats to sniff out specific odors for rewards, such as the chemical characteristics of explosives. Because of a rat’s low body weight, they will not set off a landmine, but lead someone to its location for dismantling.

While rats are great at sniffing out landmines, following them can be difficult. So, scientists have begun using drones to closely follow the path a rat takes in a suspected landmine field. The images collected by the drone are then analyzed to interpret the rat’s actions. Through this process, the locations of hidden landmines can be more precisely identified. Taking things a step further, using biomimicry of how a rat locates landmines, a team of researchers from Binghamton University in New York developed a drone that can be taught to sniff out landmines. The team applied an AI process called convolutional neural networks that allows the drone to recognize specific landmine characteristics.

Drones have more than proven their usefulness in searching out hidden objects, not just landmines. They have become critical tools in search and rescue operations. However, a team of researchers from North Carolina State University has decided to reverse the biomimicry process for search and rescue missions. Rather than developing a drone that can locate a missing person, they are developing a system that uses insects to locate a missing person, mimicking the work of a drone. The team, led by Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Alper Bozkurt, is safely and humanely turning cockroaches into biobots that can be manipulated like a drone to locate a missing person.

Dr. Bozkurt’s team attaches an electronic array with GPS sensors, microphones, and nerve transmitters to the back of the biobots. The biobots can then be released into an environment, like a collapsed building for example, and manipulated by the nerve transmitters. “The goal is to use the biobots with high-resolution microphones to differentiate between sounds that matter – like people calling for help – from sounds that don’t matter – like a leaking pipe,” Dr.Bozkurt said. “Once we’ve identified sounds that matter, we can use the biobots equipped with microphone arrays to zero in on where those sounds are coming from.” Whether scientists are using biomimicry to develop devices like drones that can sniff out landmines, or reverse mimicry to use insects to search out missing people, the technology is ever evolving and interconnected.

Previous Drone News: