http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_tinyspies011022.html
Pill-Sized Spies New Sensor-Based Communication System That's the Size of an Asprin
Oct. 22 — Tiny electronic spies the size of an aspirin could one day provide key intelligence for troops in the field, scientists say.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have developed a complete sensor-based communication system that can be integrated into a tiny package.
Using MEMS, or micro-electro-mechanical system technology, the battery-powered sensor nodes can independently assess movement or environment, then relay that information between nodes to a sensor board. The sensor nodes, or motes, can be dropped from an airplane and used to track troop movements.
"If you are a soldier out in the field, and you need to go over the next ridge, you'd rather send some kind of sensor to check it out instead of poking your head up," said professor Kris Pister, who heads up the Smart Dust project at UC Berkeley.
Pister said he believes it's only a matter of time before his sensor motes are as tiny as a grain of sand. <...>