Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Scarab Robot Flying Insect | ||
| A tiny flying robotic machine, used for surveillance. |
In this short story, a strange new fortress threatens; it is impossible for planes to approach. What sort of device could be used to penetrate its defenses?
| The Scarab paused on its perch for a moment, as if to determine for itself whether it was perfectly fit for action. It was a tiny thing, scarcely more than an inch and a half in length... Its body had a metallic sheen, and its vitals were far more intricate than those of the finest watch...
The Scarab rubbed its hind legs together, as flies will do when at rest. Then, apparently satisfied that it was in condition, it unfolded the coleoptera-like plates over its wings. With a buzz that any uninformed person would have mistaken for that of a beetle, it started out on its journey. ...It landed close to the stone walls of the structure. About it, as it scrambled forward, were weeds and bushes and grass, which, from its miniature point of view, constituted a thick and threatening jungle... a large, vicious-looking beetle barred the way, its chitinous mandibles opening and closing suggestively. ...the Scarab buzzed into the great workroom as any intruding insect might, and sought the security of a shadowed corner. There it studied its surroundings, transmitting to its manipulator, far away now, all that it heard through its ear microphones and saw with its minute vision tubes. |
| From The Scarab,
by Raymond Z. Gallun. Published by Astounding Stories in 1936 Additional resources -
|
The amazing Scarab also has the ability to deliver, via a "sting," a minute quantity of a powerful soporific agent to put evildoers quickly to sleep.
The Scarab could fly thousands of feet high into the sky; it was powered by "wireless power plants".
Note that the Scarab is not an autonomous robot; it is remote-controlled at all times. This story demonstrates the good humor of Gallun; the user of the Scarab describes having fun picking fights with beetles and other small creatures.
The only part about the Scarab that seems unattainable today is its power source; wireless, broadcast power, which was all the rage in the Twenties and Thirties.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Scarab
More Ideas
and Technology by Raymond Z. Gallun
Tech news articles related to The Scarab
Tech news articles related to works by Raymond Z. Gallun
Scarab Robot Flying Insect-related
news articles:
- Insbot Robot Cockroaches Make Friends And Influence... Roaches
- 'New' Israeli Bionic Hornet Concept Is 70 Years Old
- Insect Lab Beetle Clockwork Sculpture
- Jumping Microrobot 'Flea' Is Solar Powered
- Bandai Hex Bug Toy Robot Infestation
- Robotic Fly Micro Air Vehicle
- Morphing Micro Air-Land Vehicle: It Flies, It Crawls
- DelFly Micro Smallest Camera Plane
- ExoFly Flapping Planetary Survey Aerobot
- Katana Mono-Wing Rotorcraft Nano Air Vehicle
- Stealthy, Persistent Perch and Stare UAVs
- Robo-Bat Has Shape Memory Alloy Joints
- Robobees To Swarm At Harvard
- Bio-Mechanics And Micro-Robotic Flight
- Perching Project Drones Wait For You
- Insectothopter Robotic Dragonfly CIA Tech From 1970s
- Microcamera Big As Grain Of Salt
- Robobee Learns The Waggle Dance
- BOLT Bipedal Ornithopter Robot
- Israel's Robotic Butterfly Drone Flies Indoors
- Can't Wait For My Robot Dragonfly!
- Black Hornet Nano UAV Used By British Troops
- RoboBee Swarm Replaces Pollinating Insects?
- Drosophila Robotica, The Mechanical Fly
- Tiniest Microphone Inspired By Fly
- Fast Lightweight Autonomy Indoor Drones For DARPA
- Picobug Robot Flies, Runs And Grabs
- Tiny Drones With Sticky Feet Pollinate Flowers Now
- Poli-X1 Prototype Bee Pollinator
- RoboFly Is Laser-Powered, Adorable
- FLIR Black Hornet 3 Palm-sized Drone
- Robot Hummingbird Hovers Biomimetically
| Zephyr Solar-Electric Stratospheric Drone |
| Robot Hummingbird Hovers Biomimetically |
| Capitalist Big Brother Co-Opts Regular Big Brother |
| Juggalo Face Paint Disrupts Facial Recognition |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
''... major cities of Earth have free electrical power conveniently processed from their own noise.'
'The appearance was enough like a giant witch's broom to justify the nickname.'
'A vast circle of scarlet stars came up into the greenish desert dusk.'
'He had constructed an organ, a brain, of metal, entirely inorganic and lifeless...'
'I shall never forget the sight... when the yellow gleam of the precious metal appeared under the star dust.'
Oh, and now I suppose someone will develop the robotic porch pirate.
'This thing will start at one end of ...a house and build it complete to the other end, following drawings only.'
