Earlier this month, DARPA announced it is launching a new SHort-Range Independent Microrobotic Platforms (SHRIMP) program. SHRIMP will develop and demonstrate micro-to-milli robotic platforms for scenarios brought on by natural and critical disasters.
As IEEE Spectrum put it, it's a program to develop "insect-scale robots" for disaster recovery and high-risk environments. The topic is simple enough to understand and it also is obvious that the means of accomplishing these platforms is tough.
Yet they want to see micro-to-milli robots operating independently. In turn, "creating compact power sources and converters that can support high-voltage actuation mechanisms and significantly reduce battery drain becomes critical."
Ackerman's report had more competition details: "DARPA expects that teams will develop systems that weigh less than one gram and fit into one cubic centimeter." He also listed some of the competition events for the actuator and power source competition in the wings. They include high jump, weightlifting a mass, and shotput. The shortput is where a microrobotic actuator-power system must propel a mass horizontally, "with the distance measured only in the horizontal direction as the judging criteria."
https://techxplore.com/news/2018-07-darpa-competition-insect-scale-robots.html
Another scenario he suggested the nanodrone could do in the future is fly into a room and drop a poison onto something, such as food, to presumably target a particular individual.
The federal government defines nanotechnology as the science, technology and engineering of things so small they are measured on a nanoscale, or about 1 to 100 nanometers. A single nanometer is about 10 times smaller than the width of a human's DNA molecule.
While nanotechnology has produced major benefits for medicine, electronics and industrial applications, federal research is currently underway that could ultimately produce nanobots.
For one, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has a program called the Fast Lightweight Autonomy program for the purpose to allow autonomous drones to enter a building and avoid hitting walls or objects. DARPA announced a breakthrough last year after tests in a hangar in Massachusetts.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/mini-nukes-and-inspect-bot-weapons-being-primed-for-future-warfare.html
https://www.oxitec.com/oxitec-to-apply-new-generation-of-self-limiting-mosquito-technology-to-malaria-spreading-mosquitoes/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3425381/Are-scientists-blame-Zika-virus-Researchers-released-genetically-modified-mosquitos-Brazil-three-years-ago.html
I dont know if DARPA being in the killbox now is connected with any of this stuff but interesting none the less. Havent seen the Oxitec/Zika connection before, im sure an anons posted it, they wanted to release their mosquitos into Florida aswell, cheeky fucks. Any thoughts?