As we all know, the Roaming Goldfish Bowl was a raging success, and has taken the world by storm.
Howevertheless, no such liberating device has been developed for the simple bee. Until now.
The bee drone is not completely unlike a normal drone. In fact, the prototype has been constructed from such a normal, quadcopter-style drone.
Mounted on top of the drone body is a spherical wire cage about the size of a ping-pong ball. In the centre of this cage is suspended a small harness, designed to accommodate exactly one bee. The harness is held in the centre of the cage by eight fine wires, extending in all orthogonal directions. Where each of these wires reaches the cage, a small strain-guage is fitted.
The bee is free to flap its little wings and to manoeuvre as the whim takes it. These manoeuverings are sensed by the strain guages, causing the drone to track the bee's intentions. The result is, to cut a long story mercifully short, a bee-piloted drone.
The purpose of this device will be revealed at a future date.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 16 2016 Insect drives robot to track down smells http://www.iop.org/...feb/page_59455.html [xaviergisz, Mar 16 2016] Fly plane http://spatulatzar.com/fly_plane/Reminded me of this [mitxela, Mar 17 2016] Biggles look, Exhibit A http://i.ebayimg.co...015-0-1/s-l1000.jpg [not_morrison_rm, Mar 17 2016] A_20Car_20Driven_20...nt_20to_20Andromeda [xenzag, Mar 17 2016] Envision the bees using their drones to avoid neonicotinides and other Monsantrosities, a la [xaviergisz]' link.
Thinking of the bees = keeping 1 in 3 mouthfuls of food on my plate = bun.-- Sgt Teacup, Mar 16 2016 "Mounted on top" No no no. The be must be under the quadcopter, so it can still access flowers and stuff. Eventually, the bee will learn that the quadcopter allows it to venture further and collect a greater volume of pollen than it could before.-- neutrinos_shadow, Mar 17 2016 I'd quite like to extend this idea into the realms of an aquatic, fly-piloted craft, tuned and optimised for the safe traversal of a variety of soups, broths and chowders.-- zen_tom, Mar 17 2016 Needs more jam and banjos.-- mitxela, Mar 17 2016 Only gets a croissant if the bee gets a very small version* of one of those white silks scarves, goggles and a flying jacket.
Hmm, I do seem to recollect only a day or two ago posting an idea of using bees for their north-south sense, not that I'm saying anything mind you...
*or venison, I'm not picky.-- not_morrison_rm, Mar 17 2016 // I'd quite like to extend this idea into the realms of an aquatic... //
That's what I was thinking. The roaming goldfish bowl allows the goldfish to explore new territory. Unless the drone allows the bee to go someplace new, I don't see the point.-- scad mientist, Mar 17 2016 // The purpose of this device will be revealed at a future date.// [marked-for-tagline]-- piluso, Mar 17 2016 What [mitxela] said. But add in some molasses.-- blissmiss, Mar 17 2016 //The purpose of this device will be revealed at a future date.//
Insects are radiation hardy and bees can be frozen and thawed, so...-- FlyingToaster, Mar 18 2016 anti-tank dogs "...Another serious training mistake was revealed later; the Soviets used their own diesel-engine tanks to train the dogs rather than German tanks which had gasoline engines.[5] As the dogs relied on their acute sense of smell, the dogs sought out familiar Soviet tanks instead of strange-smelling German tanks.."-- not_morrison_rm, Mar 18 2016 I think common sense dictates that bee-piloted drone-proof windows be invented before bee-piloted drones.-- bs0u0155, Mar 18 2016 The purpose would be to make a really fast bee. You'd have a bee blasting around the countryside at 100mph, smashing through windows and terrorizing citizens at will.
There might be downsides to the invention as well.-- doctorremulac3, Mar 18 2016 //Insect drives robot to track down smells... "The turning bias in our study is analogous to a situation in which we try to ride unbalanced bicycles. We need training to ride such bicycles smoothly but the silkmoth overcomes the situation with only simple and fast sensory-motor feedbacks,” said Dr Ando."
Expect the production of teeny bicycles to quadruple over the next decade.-- not_morrison_rm, Mar 19 2016 two high-speed camera controllers are enough to get this going with no strings tied-- pashute, Jun 30 2016 [pash] buddy, there's a seat on our Scientific Inadvisory Board waiting for you.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 30 2016 A swarm of these things could be... interesting.
Does the queen bee get a special gold-plated drone?-- Wrongfellow, Jun 30 2016 " Been done — Ian Tindale, Mar 17 2016 "
Why? Bee-cause...-- normzone, Jun 30 2016 I suppose, on reflection, there is the argument that bees are actually very advanced drones that carry bee brains around.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 30 2016 random, halfbakery