Israel - The butterfly on the wall.

Israel - The butterfly on the wall.(IsraelHayom).By Ran Lior. In a small room in an enemy country, a small butterfly flutters about, relaying audio and video to a situation room somewhere in Israel • Israel Aerospace Industries is already at work developing this seemingly science fiction-like device.Engineers working in the central hangar of the Israel Aerospace Industries compound are transfixed by the small figure fluttering about in the air before them. Different versions of terrifying unmanned aerial vehicles are currently in use by the Israel Defense Forces and the militaries of other countries throughout the world, and this small creature is ready to spread its wings and join them in flight. The fantasy of every Iranian and Syrian intelligence chief is to be able to see exactly what this mechanical spy sees. Every advanced and secret aerial system is transparent to this creature. It weighs no more than 20 grams and accurately hovers only a few centimeters above a UAV, the more powerful aerial vehicle that can reach Iran and, according to reports, is capable of launching an attack. Yet, despite its diminutive build, this man-made butterfly steals the attention of all eyes in the hangar. At first, it seems like something “Q" developed for British superspy James Bond. The artificial butterfly is handheld and is capable of a vertical takeoff, just like a helicopter. Returning to the Bond movie, we will replace the two main characters: "Q" now becomes the IAI and "007" now becomes a Golani Brigade officer. True, the movie may not be a blockbuster, but no one will want to be the target of this metallic bug. This butterfly does more than just fly around in the air. Just like any self-respecting UAV, it can also take color images and relay them back to ground control in real time. If you ever imagined what it would be like to be a fly on the wall at a critical moment, this butterfly can fulfill your dream.
To explain how it works, Dubi Binyamini, head of IAI's mini-robotics department, takes out a helmet with a visor that looks like something from a science fiction movie and says, "When you put this on you are actually inside the butterfly's cockpit. You see what the butterfly sees. You can fly at any altitude and distance and see everything in real time." As hinted in his position title, Binyamini is involved in transforming the Hollywood magic into reality, here in Lod, home of the IAI. In his laboratory, his team is trying to miniaturize anything that can snap pictures, record video and conduct electricity, and turn them into weapons capable of winning the next war.
In recent years, the IDF has begun to use what it calls "tactical UAVs," also known as "Sky Riders." An artillery unit in the IDF already uses small UAVs, which can be launched on the battlefield to obtain real-time intelligence images from behind enemy lines. The term "small" is, of course relative; these UAVs span more than 1.5 meters, and certainly dwarf the butterfly. This trend of unmanned vehicles is not only being implemented in the air. IDF units responsible for the security fence that surrounds the Gaza Strip began deploying unmanned ground vehicles that move around the area and film any suspicious movement, on a limited basis. The navy too has deployed an unmanned ship controlled by an officer in a land-based air-conditioned office. A robotic war that you can only see today in movie theaters has never been so close to reality. The butterflies are Binaymini's babies.
He has already passed the age of 70, and 30 years ago won the prestigious Israel Security Award for his role in the development of the systems installed on the Kfir, Israel's home-made combat aircraft. Binyamini and others do not view the butterfly as science fiction. Israel is one of four countries that has delved into the world of insect spies. In the U.S. and South Korea, countries also involved in the development of this technology, most of the research is done by universities. In Holland, as in Israel, the military industries are also involved. Israel and Holland view the device not only as a topic of research, but also as a devastating weapon, or, at least a hard-to-detect intelligence agent. "The butterfly's advantage is its ability to fly in an enclosed environment. There is no other aerial vehicle that can do that today," Binaymini said. "The enclosed structure may be an airport terminal or an indoor train station. You can follow a suspect around without them aware of the fact that you are observing everything they do." Airport terminals and train stations have indeed become preferred venues of attack by terrorists. Madrid, Moscow, Mumbai, Tokyo and Ben-Gurion International Airport in 1972 are just a few of a long list of targets through which tens of thousands of people pass through each day and which have been attacked in the past. Binyamini mentions airport terminals, but in fact his butterfly can function just as well in forests and jungles. This is important because in locations like southern Lebanon, there are quite a few forests with which Israeli soldiers have unfortunately had to become familiar over the years. Aerial vehicles in use today can fly over the forests, but they don't have the ability to observe the goings-on within them. Hezbollah ambush forces can elude UAVs easily, because UAV cameras cannot "see" past the tops of the trees. If the butterfly meets its planned specifications, it will be able to fly among the trees and plants of a forest. "Like any butterfly, ours is not fond of strong winds and cold temperatures," Binyamini said. "In my dreams, this vehicle is used by soldiers in the field, who carry it around in their pockets. Some people think this idea is not ripe enough yet, but it represents a true technological breakthrough. It's a personal aerial vehicle." The electronic insect has a plain enough appearance. Nylon sheets are connected to hollow tubes that support several cog-wheels. The vehicle also includes several miniaturized electronic mechanisms. It flaps its wings 14 times per second and the speed at which it flies can be controlled using a small throttle installed on a remote control unit. Because holding the control unit and using the directional joystick at the same time is a bit difficult, in the current prototype the pilot needs to open and close the throttle using his or her chin. Binyamini believes that the simplicity of the design will enable any soldier to operate the butterfly. "If we obtain the funding we are asking for, the butterfly will be ready for use in two years," Binaymini promised. "This fragile creature you see in the photos today will be replaced with a more robust version capable of surviving accidents. We need to manufacture a vehicle that can withstand the force of someone stepping on it."
So how is the man-made butterfly capable of carrying weapons if it is limited weight-wise? "I believe it is capable of doing that. We haven't tested that yet," Binyamini said. "You would be surprised to know how tiny the electronic components can be and how little they can weigh." Binyamini pulls a small, hermetically sealed box out of a drawer. Inside the box is a black object as thin as dental floss. It's a camera. "The truth is that this is so tiny that sometimes I can't find it. This camera and its memory card weigh only 0.15 grams," he says. The aerial expert adds the device's transmitter and battery, bringing the total weight to 1 gram. He points to a black spot on his butterfly and says, "What you see here is a man-made muscle. If I pass an electrical current through it, the thread will contract. A single meter of this thread weighs .002 grams. Where else on earth can you find a one-meter long muscle that weighs .002 grams?" Binyamini believes that in the near future every soldier will carry a butterfly that did not emerge from a cocoon, and that the next stage of that process may apply to all of us. "We can have it in our backyards," he says cautiously. Just as we keep dogs in our homes today to deter robbers, Binyamini is sure we can have independently operating artificial butterflies doing the same thing in the future. He points out that we once thought that robotic vacuum cleaners were also science fiction. "One day you will have a coop in your backyard filled with artificial butterflies. They will identify home invaders, photograph them, raise an alarm, chase them, and attack them as well." On the other hand, our privacy will also be breached by them. It will be much easier to film people without them being aware of it. How can we prevent that? I ask. Binyamini's response? "There is no solution for that yet."Hmmmm......."Flight Of the bumblebee"?Read the full story here.