The beetle isn’t a robot, but the pack on its back is. The pack will stream video at 1 to 5 fps as the beetle explores its environment. Here’s more from engadget:
The backpack was designed to be carried by two species: A “death-feigning” beetle and Pinacate beetle. Both of those have been observed carrying up to half a gram at a time. As such, the camera rig they created weighs just a quarter gram.
To hit that goal, the team took a lesson from the insect world they’re trying to explore. “Flies are using 10 to 20 percent of their resting energy just to power their brains, most of which is devoted to visual processing,” said the study’s co-author Sawyer Fuller. “To help cut the cost, some flies have a small, high-resolution region of their compound eyes. They turn their heads to steer where they want to see with extra clarity, such as for chasing prey or a mate. This saves power over having high resolution over their entire visual field.”
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