Basic HTML Version
U
's assumc you have just been
ven the task of putting to–
ether a six-million-dollar ver- .
sion of a bionic bee. You're
not going to make sorne kind of su–
perbee, just an ordinary worker ver–
sion like in -a ny run-of-thermill
beehive.
Obviously you'd ne,ed all the ana–
tom ica l accoutrements like the
head, thorax, abdomen, legs, an–
tennae a nd the like. But let's say
you've already got thc cxisting plans
for all of these. What you're really
interested in is the interna! circuitry
and black boxes that wi ll be needed
22
•
fo r the bee's navigat ional and guid–
a~ce
system.
Por starters. here's a list of equip–
ment you'll need:
• Interna! dock
Polarized-üght sensor
Sun-angle-azimuth computer
lnstrument for measuring true
vertical
• Dead-reckoning equipment
• Wind-speed and directíon tn–
dicator
• Trigonometric calculator and
tables
• Ai r- a nd g round-speed in–
dicators
. .
•
Perhaps you thínk this is a bit
extravagant for your o rd inary bio–
nic bee. But before you jump to .con–
clusions, consider sorne of the
normal everyday navigational prob–
lems which must be solved.
A bee can literally follow its pro–
boscis to nearby flowers. but its
pint-sized power of smell obviously
has limitations. In order to pinpoint
~
distant nectar and pollen finds
~
something more is needed.
3
First of a ll , bees have to know in
~
which direction
to
fly for those pro-
ª
verbia l beelines. Here the basic
~
gu idance prob lem is relatively
~
The
PLAIN TRUTH May 1978