At Wright State University in Ohio, students have been busy building flying bugs . . . rather, dragonfly-like, radio-controlled mechanical contraptions. One of these devices flew around a Wright State University conference room and hovered and swooped, all at the direction of a researcher. Photo courtesy of Dayton Daily News — Wright State University's Cheng-Kuei Hsu stands with a micro air vehicle he constructed for less than $200 as part of the University's proposed Micro Air Vehicles Center. The battery-powered, remote-control airplane weighs in at 10 grams, or less than 1/4 ounce.

The demonstration of the prototype last week gave a snapshot of where Wright State researchers hope to take the development of increasingly tiny unmanned aircraft during the next 21 years, in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, local aerospace industry and even researchers in other countries. The Air Force wants to be able to deploy bird-sized "micro air vehicles" by 2015 and insect-sized versions by 2030 to spy on enemies.

Researchers in Wright State's newly formed Micro Air Vehicle Research Center of Excellence face challenges including reducing the size and weight of materials, batteries and sensing devices for the tiny vehicles, said George Huang, chairman of the university's department of mechanical and materials engineering, who will lead the research center. "We're talking about everything together, in one piece, and miniaturized," Huang said.

Because of their small size, the micro vehicles would have flapping wings of synthetic materials, along with on-board power sources and sensing devices, to spy inside buildings or wooded areas. They could be hand-launched by troops in the field. They could also have civilian uses, including being flown into disaster areas to determine whether people there had survived or died.

Wright State is to fund the research for now. Huang and Jack Bantle, Wright State's vice president for research and graduate studies, are hoping for Air Force funding along with support from aerospace companies that can provide expertise and equipment.

It complements other efforts to make Dayton a center for production and technology expertise in unmanned aerial vehicles. University of Dayton researchers also are involved in long-term development of micro air vehicles. The Dayton Development Coalition has been hosting meetings of businesses focusing on UAV research support. The National Composite Center, of Kettering, has given Ohio a proposal to seek $28.2 million in federal economic-stimulus funding to develop a Dayton-based UAV technology industry, building on research organizations already here.

Article excerpts credited to DaytonDailyNews.com.