The Pentagon has issued more than a dozen contracts to develop insect-scale robotic technologies needed for a new-class of ultra-small platforms the size of ants that might one day clandestinely move within 10 centimeters of a target. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has issued 15 contracts to advance basic research on actuators, power systems and platforms for "micro-to-milli" class microrobots to execute close-proximity missions. Between Feb. 25 and March 1, DARPA awarded contracts potentially worth $25 million for new...
