This is a $2.1 Million Robot Hummingbird and It May Save Your Life [Robots]

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...0x_hummbot.jpgThis tiny, flying robot flaps its wings 30 times per second—just like a real hummingbird—and will one day save lives by searching for survivors in wreckage and spots inaccessible by humans.
So far, the development of this hummingbird has cost $2.1 million and that number's growing. Japanese researchers are hoping to make the robot hover at a point in mid-air—just like the bird which inspired it—as they control it using infrared sensors. Once they manage that and add a tiny camera, they imagine that the robot will "be used to help rescue people trapped in destroyed buildings, search for criminals or even operate as a probe vehicle on Mars."
A space-exploring, human-saving, crime-stopping robot bird? Brilliant. [PhysOrg via Engadget]


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