Squads of war birds: Chinese scientists have learned how to control pigeons - ForumDaily
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Detachments of fighting birds: Chinese scientists have learned to control pigeons

So far, Russian propaganda has been talking about superpigeons from Ukrainian biolaboratories (suddenly, who didn’t know - non-existent). And yes, the United States is to blame here, they sponsored all this in order to destroy the poor Russians. China wasted no time and created its own super pigeons. (How do you like that, Elon Musk?)

Photo: IStock

And although Chinese pigeons do not spread a terrible virus aimed at the native Russian spirit, scientists managed to control a dove in flight for almost two hours using a solar-powered brain control device. South China Morning Post.

A team of scientists led by Huai Ruituo, a professor at the College of Electrical Engineering and Automation at Shandong University of Science and Technology in eastern China, is studying the use of robotics in animals.

The researchers strapped a solar panel about half the size of a smartphone screen to the back of a pigeon. Of course, it’s not as futuristic as the Russians imagined: DNA programming, Russophobia in pigeons and special forces bird training for flights in the Russian Federation, but very interesting, and most importantly, real.

A small lithium battery, charged by the panel, powers the brain control device on the bird's head, generating nerve stimulation signals and maintaining wireless communication with the base.

With the new device, "the animal robot can charge autonomously in the sun if the remaining power is low," Huai and colleagues report in the paper.

The researchers noted that in previous experiments, pigeons followed human commands for nearly 45 minutes (about the same as a typical commercial drone) due to the limited battery size the birds could carry.

On the subject: Declassified files: how trained CIA pigeons and dolphins spied on the USSR

“The results show that for animals that are active outdoors, such as domestic pigeons, the operating time is significantly increased after the system is installed, and they can perform tasks in remote locations without worrying about energy depletion,” the scientists said.

The first successful experiments in controlling the brains of animals were reported by a Japanese research group in 1997 (well, now it’s clear where the idea of ​​super-pigeons, war geese and other “Bandera” animals comes from) during a presentation at an international conference on robotics. They used electrical stimuli to make the cockroach move in a straight line.

Since then, many researchers from all over the world have joined the field, extending the use of similar technology to a wide range of animals, including beetles, bees, geckos, rats and sharks (Russians have not yet seen such trained super animals in Ukraine, but, as they say, it’s not over ).

Western countries are taking the lead, but China has quickly caught up in recent years with breakthroughs including controlled animal movement and an automatic guidance system using GPS and image recognition to guide the animal to the right place.

Animal behavior is usually controlled by neural signals generated by researchers to evoke unpleasant sensations, such as pain or fear, prompting immediate action, such as turning right or left.

For the signal generator to work properly, the computer chips and communication components for the brain control device require constant, stable power.

The limited power supply is a major problem preventing the technology from being used in real-life scenarios, including search and rescue after natural disasters and military operations (but not what you might think).

Huai's team said their solar-powered system was built mostly from off-the-shelf components. It was not the most efficient source of energy - an inexpensive computer chip (think of the COVID-19 vaccination right away) in a device for controlling the brain consumed more energy than scientists would like.

To overcome these challenges, scientists have developed an intelligent power management system that closely monitors the brain's control system and predicts its energy consumption, which they say improves energy efficiency.

Using predictions, the brain control device can change the intensity of its stimulus signals and coordinate the distribution of energy between different components to maximize the duration of the operation in an ever-changing environment.

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The study showed that the system can increase the effective power-up time by almost 40 percent even on a cloudy day. Experiments with a group of five pigeons confirmed that birds can follow simple commands such as turning right or left with 80-90% accuracy. The researchers say the birds were sometimes unresponsive due to fatigue or strong, unexpected distractions (perhaps they saw the Russians while they were flying and couldn't resist).

Huai is confident that the performance of the device can be improved by using artificial intelligence (just imagine: super pigeons from biolabs controlled by artificial intelligence - you can send a script to Hollywood) to reduce the load on data collection and calculations. Improved solar panels will increase the rate at which sunlight is converted into electricity, she said.

A Beijing-based researcher studying the use of robotics in animals said the technology, which usually requires surgically implanting wires into an animal's brain, could potentially be used for military purposes. Let's hope that it does not exist in the Russian Federation, and if it does, it will not use this technology, at least in public.

Some of the leading research projects in this area have been funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (again, the US is to blame) and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), said the researcher, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

These include controlling animals to carry tools or weapons. Controlled animals can also be used to collect intelligence in dangerous situations, such as anti-terrorist operations or combat missions.

According to the researcher, the PLA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency have looked at several ways to deliver power, including using animals' blood sugar or animal muscle movements to generate electricity, as well as wirelessly transmitting power.

But these systems proved to be quite complex. On the contrary, the solar panel offered a simple engineering solution, although it could increase the weight and reduce the animal's mobility, and its practical value required further study.

One can only guess how the main Russian propagandists will react to such a discovery. You can make a video and say that terrible Ukrainians attacked defenseless Russians with pigeons, or say that this is a “response” of domestic production, or even accuse China of supporting the regime of the main breeders of Russophobic pigeons of this world. It remains only to wait with bated breath and be prepared not to overstrain with laughter.

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