Robo-bugs destined to be military spies (AP news story)

''"Robo-bugs destined to be military spies." AP'', ca. 1 May 1998. The Cincinnati Post, 1 May 1998: 23A.

Associated Press report from Nashville, TN, on two Vanderbilt U professors' receiving support from the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop "robot insects that someday could help soldiers scout enemy positions or aid scientists exploring other planets" (or other hostile environments). One of the scientists said the miniature robots will be "small, mostly metallic bugs, with four to six legs. They'll be a couple of inches long, about the size of a large beetle" and equipped with cameras or other sensors. The scientists hoped to have a prototype built very quickly of what seems to be a crawling model; there is no indication in the AP story that flying versions are planned. Note for the tiny robots in such S. Lem stories as Fiasco and "The Seventh Sally," and esp. the insectoid robots of The Invincible and "The Upside-Down Evolution[[" (q.v. under Fiction); note also the films [[BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED and [[RUNAWAY'' (q.v. under Drama).