Drawing inspiration from nature, #DARPA, has decided to attach robotic, #dragonfly inspired insect legs onto the bottom of a #helicopter. - http://clapway.com/2015/09/15/darpa-insect-legs-drone-helicopter213

Emergent technology often draws inspiration from pre-existing contexts. Take for example, the Swincar Spider, a buggy style electric car, which utilizes four separate motors for each wheel to allow it to run like spider legs. Now the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the government agency responsible for developing technologies for military use, has decided to implement the same tactic by attaching robotic, dragonfly inspired insect legs onto the bottom of a helicopter.

REPURPOSING DRAGONFLY LEGS FOR A HELICOPTER

The “legs,” which are articulated like those of an actual dragonfly, permit the drone chopper to perform “incredibly difficult and highly dangerous” feats that a standard helicopter would not be able to carry out, according to Geek.

The project is part of the Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR) program, currently focused on developing “morphing rotor technology” to be used across various domains. In this case, the chopper can be used for militaristic purposes as well as for more practical applications, such as during the event of a natural disaster. The device is optimized to land on uneven surfaces, thanks, in part, to an integrated sensor array, which prompts the legs to adjust itself to a given terrain. Landings and takes offs, as a result, are extremely smooth.

Standard helicopters generally need to land on flat surfaces to prevent the spinning, high-speed rotor from accidentally striking an object. The new system, however, will offer stable landing opportunities, even on sloping terrain of up to 20 degrees. The benefits of this ability are countless: pilots, for example, could land their helicopters on ships despite violent sea conditions.

“The equipment—mounted on an otherwise unmodified, unmanned helicopter—successfully demonstrated the ability to land and take off from terrain that would be impossible to operate from with standard landing gear,” stated Ashish Bagai, DARPA program manager.

The project is currently being developed by the Georgia Institute of Technology, and if funded by the Mission Adaptive Rotor (MAR) program.

For more information about the MAR landing gear, check out the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_WqX8nmKY

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DARPA Attaches Insect Legs to a Drone Helicopter

Can we move to Mars without this? - http://clapway.com/2015/06/25/darpa-wants-to-terraform-mars-with-genetically-engineered-organisms-335/

The U.S. Government wants to create a Martian colony, so it is creating genetically engineered organisms to terraform Mars.

COLONIZING MARS

Many have eyed Mars as a potential alien world on which a human settlement could be established. But, although Mars is considered the most Earth-like planet in the solar system, the conditions on Mars are less than ideal for human life. The planet barely has an atmosphere, which means there isn’t much natural protection against solar radiation. The large majority of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide. So the lack of breathable air is a major issue. And this world is miserably cold. The average temperature on Mars is less than fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) below zero.

NASA and a few private space companies are exploring solutions like specialized habitats to deal with the harsh Martian environment. But the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to take a different approach. It wants to terraform Mars into an Earth-like planet.

CREATING ANOTHER EARTH

New software developed by DARPA reportedly makes it easier for the agency to genetically engineer all types of organisms. And scientists want to create organisms that can be used to terraform Mars.

While speaking at the recent Synthetic Biology: Engineering, Evolution & Design (SEED) conference in Boston, MA, DARPA’s deputy director of its Biological Technologies Office, Alicia Jackson, explained that DARPA’s technology provides the ability “to go into space not just to visit, but to stay.”

These manufactured organisms would be sent to Mars to alter its ecosystem by spawning algae, bacteria, and even plants to warm and thicken the planet’s atmosphere, thus creating a more Earth-like world for human settlers.

REPAIRING EARTH’S ENVIRONMENT

Terraforming Mars is a goal for DARPA down the road. But, for now, the agency sees many uses for its genetically engineered organisms here on Earth. Jackson provided the example of sending organisms to a natural or man-made disaster area to assist in repairing environmental damage.

DARPA hopes that, after using Earth as a proving ground, its engineered organisms will be ready to begin preparing alien worlds for human colonization.

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DARPA Wants to Terraform Mars with Genetically Engineered Organisms