photo #4199907

A very tiny control panel about to be "manned" by a pigeon. This was "Project Pigeon," an attempt by B.F. Skinner to develop a pigeon guided missile. According to Wikipedia, "One to three pigeons, trained by operant conditioning to recognize the target, were stationed in front of the screen; when they saw the target, they would peck at the screen with their beaks. They were trained by being shown an image of the target and each time the pigeons pecked the image some seed would be dispensed. As long as the target remained in the center of the screen, the screen would not move, but if the bomb began to go off track, the image would move towards the edge of the screen. The pigeons would follow the image, pecking at it, which would move the screen on its pivots.The sensors would detect the movement and send signals to the control surfaces, which would steer the bomb in the direction the screen had moved. As the bomb swung back towards the target, the pigeons would again follow the image, bringing the screen back to the centered position again. In that way, the pigeons would correct any deviations in the course and keep the bomb on its glide path.The National Defense Research Committee saw the idea to use pigeons in glide bombs as very eccentric and impractical, but still contributed $25,000 to the research. Skinner, who had some success with the training, complained: 'our problem was no one would take us seriously.'"