BAE Systems Photo
British defense giant BAE Systems has created a series of tiny electronic spiders, insects and snakes that could become the eyes and ears of soldiers and maybe even save thousands of lives.
BAE Systems and the U.S. hope to have their prototypes on the front line by the end of the year, entering booby-trapped buildings or enemy hideouts to transmit location data back to the "good guys" quartered out of harm's way, or even to Pocket PCs used by soldiers in the field.
BAE Systems recently signed a $41 million dollar contract to develop the robot insects for the US Army.
Researchers hope to also create machines that can fly like a butterfly. Some of the creatures will be fitted with small cameras, others will be equipped with sensors that will be able to detect the presence of chemical, biological or radioactive weapons.
"The idea is to get a number of these working together — some tiny, some maybe up to a foot in length, and all going into a building together carrying out different tasks. Eventually we hope to have animals flying and slithering," said a Program Manager, Steve Scalera.
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