Studies of flapping-wing micro unmanned air vehicles (MAV) under the DARPA MAV effort concluded that the technology is not ready, says organic air vehicle (OAV) programme manager Sam Wilson. "Flappers are neat, and they may be the key for operations inside buildings. We will continue to work them as a technology, but they are not ready". The OAV "will stay away from buildings. We'll leave them to the ground robot guys." Wilson says. One of the issues is that satellite navigation systems, essential for the autonomous navigation of MAVs, do not work inside buildings. Wilson says that the answer may lie with the Bluetooth low-power wireless network technology which is being developed to link a variety of personal electronic devices including mobile telephones and laptop computers.
Source: Flight International
