Chinese scientists have created a living dove on the radio

The researchers presented a unique development of its kind. The bird is controlled by radio waves.

The main difficulty in the process of creating a radio-controlled pigeon was the low autonomy of the electronic filling - the battery lasted only 45 minutes. The problem was subsequently solved by adding a small photocell to the design.



The bird is controlled by stimulating the areas of the brain responsible for fear, pleasure and other factors that can change the flight path. To directly transmit the stimulus without intermediaries in the form of sensory organs, the researchers connected special electrodes to the corresponding brain areas.



The functioning of the electrodes occurs with the help of a control board that generates electrical signals. Scientists placed this board on the back of a pigeon, the connection to the board is via a radio channel. In the early stages, the battery only lasted 45 minutes to operate the mechanism, so solar cells were added to the design, which constantly feed the battery. As a result, the bird can be controlled for two hours on a sunny day. For comparison: the average drone has half the autonomy.



Implantation of electrode contacts into the brain occurs by a surgical operation under anesthesia. Next, the bird needs to fully recover, and after that it can rise into the air without discomfort. In the future, the technology will allow the use of pigeons to find people lost in the forest, as well as to search for victims of natural disasters.