7 ms·

The CIA’s amazing bots

71 points by phsr 16y ago

ohashi 16y ago
From the 70's... your imagination can just run wild with what they might be using today. It's both very cool and somewhat scary.
- stcredzero 16y ago
  From the 70's indeed. In fact, it looks like the CIA tried to implement a device from 70's juvenile Sci-fi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn,_Invisible_Boy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn,_Invisible_Boy
- lwat 16y ago
  I'm highly skeptical about that dragonfly from the 70s. I think it's a mock-up at best, there's no way they made something useful for surveillance etc the size of a large dragonfly. Not in the 70s. Researchers working on this for decades can barely do this today!
  - grandalf 16y ago
    I'm guessing all it did was fly around loosely controlled if at all. The miniaturization is impressive, but they were not likely able to do much more than a small internal combustion engine in the 70s. Today however I would not be surprised if such devices exist and are in practical use.
- philsalesses 16y ago
  That's the recruiting pitch they use, but in all honesty, I think it's bogus. Things have changed. Researchers are now more likely to take a job elsewhere than volunteer to be locked away in the depths of Langley. We have no grand enemy and those capable of developing such technology are choosing to work for contractors instead Background on this device: has been declassified for some time and it's main defect was that it can not function in over 2-3 knots, both from an acoustical recording quality and navigation standpoint.
yogiprerna 16y ago
What's disturbing to me about this is not the technology (which is awesome), but the fact that it's been buried in the government trenches for 40 years. That kind of knowledge hoarding seems highly antithetical to the "American spirit".
- danielsoneg 16y ago
  The CIA's always been antithetical to the "American spirit" - an intelligence organization is, by definition. Agreed, though - it would be nice if this had seen the light of day before now, moreso given the fact that we still can't figure out how the damn thing works.
- leot 16y ago
  I remember an article perhaps 10 years ago about how these were displayed in the a (public?) CIA museum.
rcavezza 16y ago
Wow, I wonder how many tiny spy cameras they have flying around disguised as insects right now...
- jjwiseman 16y ago
  From a 2007 story in the Washington Post, "Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801434.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10... : Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month. "I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects." Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too. "I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' " That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.
borism 16y ago
is this a joke? seriously, who are these guys (either CIA, or this post's authors) kidding? it all reminded me of all those Castro assassination attempts, each more perverse than previous, and of course all a complete failure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/638_Ways_to_Kill_Castro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/638_Ways_to_Kill_Castro
philthy 16y ago
The CIA can't even sniff out a double agent who kills a station chief and a hand full of others in AFG...doubtful they have robots smaller then this : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Raven_UAV.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Raven_UAV... full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_UAV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_UAV you guys watch too much movies
- woodall 16y ago
  >Miniature auto differential created for tiny flying robots http://www.gizmag.com/differential-micro-air-vehicles/16250/ http://www.gizmag.com/differential-micro-air-vehicles/16250/ >Harvard University's Micro-robotics Laboratory claims to have created the first tiny micro-robotic fly able to generate enough thrust to take off. It has a wingspan of 3 cm and only weighs 0.06 grams. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZzzeipags http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZzzeipags
  - philthy 16y ago
    Neither of which are in use with the US gov't! If you fools haven't figured it out, the US gov't is not a futuristic entity with all gadgets 10 years before they come out. Leading up to and shortly after 9/11 you couldn't search for multi word strings on FBI computers, and you think they have nano bots? HAH!
tintin 16y ago
For those interested: http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=home&lang=en http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=home&lang=en the smallest I've seen with camera!

71 points by phsr 16y ago

From the 70's... your imagination can just run wild with what they might be using today. It's both very cool and somewhat scary.

stcredzero 16y ago
From the 70's indeed. In fact, it looks like the CIA tried to implement a device from 70's juvenile Sci-fi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn,_Invisible_Boy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Dunn,_Invisible_Boy
lwat 16y ago
I'm highly skeptical about that dragonfly from the 70s. I think it's a mock-up at best, there's no way they made something useful for surveillance etc the size of a large dragonfly. Not in the 70s. Researchers working on this for decades can barely do this today!
- grandalf 16y ago
  I'm guessing all it did was fly around loosely controlled if at all. The miniaturization is impressive, but they were not likely able to do much more than a small internal combustion engine in the 70s. Today however I would not be surprised if such devices exist and are in practical use.
philsalesses 16y ago
That's the recruiting pitch they use, but in all honesty, I think it's bogus. Things have changed. Researchers are now more likely to take a job elsewhere than volunteer to be locked away in the depths of Langley. We have no grand enemy and those capable of developing such technology are choosing to work for contractors instead Background on this device: has been declassified for some time and it's main defect was that it can not function in over 2-3 knots, both from an acoustical recording quality and navigation standpoint.

yogiprerna 16y ago

What's disturbing to me about this is not the technology (which is awesome), but the fact that it's been buried in the government trenches for 40 years. That kind of knowledge hoarding seems highly antithetical to the "American spirit".

danielsoneg 16y ago
The CIA's always been antithetical to the "American spirit" - an intelligence organization is, by definition. Agreed, though - it would be nice if this had seen the light of day before now, moreso given the fact that we still can't figure out how the damn thing works.
leot 16y ago
I remember an article perhaps 10 years ago about how these were displayed in the a (public?) CIA museum.

rcavezza 16y ago

Wow, I wonder how many tiny spy cameras they have flying around disguised as insects right now...

jjwiseman 16y ago
From a 2007 story in the Washington Post, "Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/08/AR2007100801434.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10... : Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month. "I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects." Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too. "I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' " That is just one of the questions hovering over a handful of similar sightings at political events in Washington and New York. Some suspect the insectlike drones are high-tech surveillance tools, perhaps deployed by the Department of Homeland Security.

borism 16y ago

is this a joke? seriously, who are these guys (either CIA, or this post's authors) kidding? it all reminded me of all those Castro assassination attempts, each more perverse than previous, and of course all a complete failure: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/638_Ways_to_Kill_Castro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/638_Ways_to_Kill_Castro

philthy 16y ago

The CIA can't even sniff out a double agent who kills a station chief and a hand full of others in AFG...doubtful they have robots smaller then this : http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Raven_UAV.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Raven_UAV... full article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_UAV http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miniature_UAV you guys watch too much movies

woodall 16y ago
>Miniature auto differential created for tiny flying robots http://www.gizmag.com/differential-micro-air-vehicles/16250/ http://www.gizmag.com/differential-micro-air-vehicles/16250/ >Harvard University's Micro-robotics Laboratory claims to have created the first tiny micro-robotic fly able to generate enough thrust to take off. It has a wingspan of 3 cm and only weighs 0.06 grams. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZzzeipags http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATZzzeipags
- philthy 16y ago
  Neither of which are in use with the US gov't! If you fools haven't figured it out, the US gov't is not a futuristic entity with all gadgets 10 years before they come out. Leading up to and shortly after 9/11 you couldn't search for multi word strings on FBI computers, and you think they have nano bots? HAH!

tintin 16y ago

For those interested: http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=home&lang=en http://www.delfly.nl/?site=DIII&menu=home&lang=en the smallest I've seen with camera!