At first glance it seems like a fairly routine military tech project: DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is developing a miniature unmanned air vehicle that can be carried into the field in a rucksack and sent out to a remote urban location, where it will find a spot from which to perch and transmit surveillance video.
The technology for this vulture-like “Perch and Stare” device is within reach, but DARPA has taken a rather extraordinary approach to getting the concept into production.
Rather than contracting out with domestic research institutions or defense industry companies, DARPA has extended a welcome mat to everyone around the world through an elaborately crowd-sourced competition called UAVForge, which launched last May.
From TPM: http://idealab.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/at-first-glance-it-seems.php?ref=fpblg