From some fertile minds at the University of Pennsylvania’s General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Lab comes the meanest looking quad-rotor micro air vehicle I’ve ever seen.
DARPA, as well as all the services, are funding research into Micro Air Vehicles, drones small enough to fit in the palm of your hand fitted with sensors that can penetrate deep inside buildings, tunnels, caves and urban canyons searching out the enemy. The Brits use the small 6-inch WASP MAV in Afghanistan.
The next step is to arm the little suckers. A networked MAV swarm carrying small explosive charges in kamikaze attacks could take out vehicles, missile batteries, radar installations or other soft targets like people. A swarm of these quad-rotor MAVs coming your way would definitely give you pause.
-- Greg Grant
