Source: World Wide Web
After designing a miniature sensor backpack for bees, researchers from the University of Washington set their sights on beetles. According to foreign media reports on July 16, researchers created an advanced miniature camera backpack, mounted on the back of the beetle.
Also known as the Beetle version of the gopro, the miniature backpack has built-in controllable miniature cameras that can shoot videos at 1-5 frames and rotate 60 degrees, according to the research team, this device can not only create an interesting perspective, but also provide reference value for future biological research.
The researchers found two beetle species in the beetle species, each capable of carrying about 0.5 grams of weight at a single time, so they made a miniature backpack weighing about 0.25 grams.
In order for the system to work properly, the team drew on the experience of insect biomimicry, researcher Soyer Fuller said: "Fruit flies use 10%-20% of the energy to drive the brain, and most of this energy is used for visual processing, in order to reduce energy expenditure, the fruit fly compound eye has a small high-resolution area, they will turn the head to this part of the area to look at the target, rather than the entire compound eye in a high-resolution state." ”
Similar to this principle, the camera of the miniature backpack uses an ultra-low-power black-and-white camera, which can be rotated 60 degrees through the robotic arm, and when the voltage is applied, the robotic arm is bent, staying for a minute and then returning to its original position, so that the camera can also provide a wide-angle viewing angle without consuming a lot of energy, and can run for 6 hours on a charge.
The team said the insects were not harmed by the study and would survive at least a year after the study was over. "With this backpack on, we can see how beetles respond to different stimuli in the environment, and insects can travel through narrow environments like rocks, which is a huge challenge for robots made by humans, so this system can help humans see a lot of unknown spaces." Sawyer Fuller said.