30 
Who knows what kind of craziness the CIA is working on now, but back in the 1970s, the goal was to perfect a robotic dragonfly. Now, 40 years later, you can see footage of the prototype in action.
The insectocopter’s job would have been to deliver listening bugs used to surveil unsuspecting targets, but the little drone could never quite manage to hold its own against crosswinds so the project was eventually scrappped. Had it not been, we probably wouldn’t be hearing about it today.
The insectocopter isn’t the only declassified CIA project you can see in action; they’ve got a robot fish named Charlie too. It’s anyone’s guess what we’ll find out the CIA was working on when they declassify modern day projects in the future, but let’s hope it’s something cooler than “a better robot fish”. [IEEE Spectrum]
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Insectothopter, not copter. There’s a difference, it’s not a typo. The c in helicopter originates from the word heliko, referring to the helical or spinning motion of the blades, so is not applicable here. This device is a type of ornithopter, that flies with a flapping motion, but as it’s based on an insect they’ve replaced the orni- part that normally signifies a bird with insecto- for clarity.
It even says Insectothopter in the video, spoken several times as well as bordering the video. I don’t believe the writers watch any of the videos they write about.
Hate to be a pedant (I love it really) but the ‘th’ part is actually part of the Greek noun for a bird, which is ‘ornith-’, and is not connected to the ‘ptera’ part, which is the word for wing. So it should either be an insectopter (if Latinised), or entomopter (if we’re going with the Greek thing). Happy to be corrected but I’m pretty sure I’m right.
Cool video though
I’m aware, but decided the scientists involved probably left that bit in there to make it simpler to pronounce (or sound cooler in their minds, who knows) so didn’t mention it. You’re quite correct, though!
I have to admit, insectothopter does sound cooler than the alternatives I came up with. I’ll never make it in marketing…
additional kudos for dragonflies for being able to handle crosswinds