Bugs and beetles have not exactly ranged among humans' darling species in the past, but they might as well become the heros of tomorrow, a new microelectromechanical technology developed at the U.S. University of Michigan suggests. Equipped with minute microphones, cameras, and/or gas sensors, the insects could soon scout hazardous environments like collapsed buildings or contaminated zones and so facilitate search and rescue operations.

Generating the energy needed to operate the minuscule equipment has posed a major challenge so far as weight and volume of any device are naturally limited; Professor Khalil Najafi, Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Division at the University of Michigan, doctoral student Erkan Aktakka and their research team however have come up with fascinating new energy scavenging techniques: tiny generators mounted on beetle wings, empowered by either the kinetic energy of wing movement or body heat, could soon provide bug-lifelong energy supply for all appliances. The project is funded by DARPA (US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency); the first bug-mission launched by the the Hybrid Insect Micro Electromechanical Systems program is scheduled for this year, 2012.