Researchers at North Carolina
State University have developed a combination of software and hardware that
will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or
biobots, to map large, unfamiliar areas, such as collapsed buildings after a
disaster. The biobots would be allowed to move freely within a defined area and
would signal researchers via radio waves whenever they got close to each other.
Custom software would then use an algorithm to translate the biobot sensor data
into a rough map of the unknown environment.
Once the program receives enough
data to map the defined area, the UAV moves forward to hover over an adjacent,
unexplored section. The biobots move with it, and the mapping process is
repeated. The software program then stitches the new map to the previous one.
This can be repeated until the entire region or structure has been mapped; that
map could then be used by first responders or other authorities. This has
utility for areas, like collapsed buildings, where GPS can't be used.
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